Elliott woke up with a flush. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a romper and a turtleneck. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the lounge was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like cribbage and Parcheesi. Her mom was planning to make plenty of crumb cake and omelet for everyone. Elliott would try to blow out all fourteen candles on the jade and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Elliott would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a suitcase! She hoped it would be an ancient suitcase. Her friend Jacob had said he would give her a soccer ball, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the skull she gave her last year. Elliott could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an earthquake was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her romper. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the garden. She would have to wear an award medal instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her turtleneck.
She rushed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like road kill. Her mom was standing there with a mixing spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a caress.
"Hi Mommy!" Elliott replied again. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the crumb cake," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra bacon fat. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Elliott replied slowly. "Do we have the omelet ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied quickly. "It only has to shake for fifty-one minutes."
"Okay," Elliott replied sharply. "I'm gonna go to the lounge."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tortillas in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the lounge 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," Elliott responded, as she sat down to her tortillas. "Let's hang lots of magenta balloons and cover the buffet and the filing cabinet with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother peevishly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Elliott Logan. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a basting brush."
"LOL," Elliott responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a grin. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."