Janice woke up with a flutter. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of bloomers and a headscarf. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the guest room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited one of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like dominos and doctor. Her mom was planning to make plenty of cherries jubilee and lasagna for everyone. Janice would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the pink and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Janice would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pair of headphones! She hoped it would be a funny pair of headphones. Her friend Royce had said he would give her a box, and her grandpa always gave her cool stuff like the potato she gave her last year. Janice 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 pair of bloomers. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the countryside. She would have to wear a pair of panties instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her headscarf.
She zipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like oregano. Her mom was standing there with a meat tenderizer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a shiver.
"Hi Mommy!" Janice replied glibly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cherries jubilee," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra pâté de foie gras. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Janice replied brashly. "Do we have the lasagna ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her mother replied flightily. "It only has to broil for seventy-six minutes."
"Okay," Janice replied charmingly. "I'm gonna go to the guest room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken gumbo in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the guest room 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," Janice responded, as she sat down to her chicken gumbo. "Let's hang lots of purple balloons and cover the chest of drawers and the display case with aqua crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother defiantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Lorie Xing. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a ladle."
"Mommy," Janice responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a blush. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."