Elaine woke up with a pucker. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a tunic and a black belt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boudoir was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like blackjack and Scrabble. Her mom was planning to make plenty of cotton candy and duck a l'orange for everyone. Elaine would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the blue and ivory cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Elaine would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a paperweight! She hoped it would be an art deco paperweight. Her friend Tom had said he would give her a cigar, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the cream puff she gave her last year. Elaine could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her tunic. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the jungle. She would have to wear a tank top instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her black belt.
She cantered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Listerine. Her mom was standing there with a meat tenderizer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a belly laugh.
"Hi Mommy!" Elaine replied properly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cotton candy," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra chopped onions. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Elaine replied resignedly. "Do we have the duck a l'orange ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her mother replied effortlessly. "It only has to fry for seventy-two minutes."
"Okay," Elaine replied firmly. "I'm gonna go to the boudoir."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some egg salad sandwich in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boudoir 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," Elaine responded, as she sat down to her egg salad sandwich. "Let's hang lots of chartreuse balloons and cover the china hutch and the credenza with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother breathlessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Victoria Slater. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"Adios," Elaine responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a simper. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."