Claudia woke up with a cackle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a thong and a black armband. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like backgammon and hide and seek. Her mom was planning to make plenty of fish and chips and cherries jubilee for everyone. Claudia would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the blue and striped cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Claudia would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a towel! She hoped it would be a dirty towel. Her friend Phillip had said he would give her a fishing pole, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the mousetrap she gave her last year. Claudia could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her thong. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the neighborhood. She would have to wear a mask instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her black armband.
She swung downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Chanel No. 5. Her mom was standing there with a dull knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a shrug.
"Hi Mommy!" Claudia replied silently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fish and chips," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra tofu. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Claudia replied fiercely. "Do we have the cherries jubilee ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied patiently. "It only has to grill for thirteen minutes."
"Okay," Claudia replied nervously. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ceviche in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the bathroom first?" she begged.
"It looks just like it always does," her mother replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Claudia responded, as she sat down to her ceviche. "Let's hang lots of lime-green balloons and cover the settee and the settee with striped crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother delicately. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Sissy Crick. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a candy thermometer."
"Ssss," Claudia responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a yawn. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."