June woke up with a gasp. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of knickers and a maxi skirt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the attic was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like battleship and Russian roulette. Her mom was planning to make plenty of pecan pie and pretzels for everyone. June would try to blow out all fifteen candles on the sparkly and brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, June would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hand puppet! She hoped it would be a bent hand puppet. Her friend Shamus had said he would give her a corncob, and her grandma always gave her cool stuff like the kite she gave her last year. June could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of knickers. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the outback. She would have to wear a ring instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her maxi skirt.
She darted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like used books. Her mom was standing there with an oven mitt in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a flinch.
"Hi Mommy!" June replied hopefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pecan pie," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra sauerkraut. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," June replied cleverly. "Do we have the pretzels ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her mother replied valiantly. "It only has to roast for sixty-five minutes."
"Okay," June replied perkily. "I'm gonna go to the attic."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some hot dogs in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the attic 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," June responded, as she sat down to her hot dogs. "Let's hang lots of chartreuse balloons and cover the catbird seat and the couch with silver crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother breathlessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Rebecca Flash. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"What in tarnation," June responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a squint. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."