Annalouise woke up with a sigh. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bonnet and an earring. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the front porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like croquet and jump rope. Her mom was planning to make plenty of burritos and mulligan stew for everyone. Annalouise would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the scarlet and silver cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Annalouise would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cell phone! She hoped it would be a spongy cell phone. Her friend Aaron had said he would give her a hat, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the smart phone she gave her last year. Annalouise could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bonnet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the tundra. She would have to wear a toga instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her earring.
She cantered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like burning rubber. Her mom was standing there with a pastry blender in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a sniffle.
"Hi Mommy!" Annalouise replied pitifully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the burritos," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra shallots. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Annalouise replied cleverly. "Do we have the mulligan stew ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her mother replied languidly. "It only has to place on serving dish for twenty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Annalouise replied openly. "I'm gonna go to the front porch."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some prune pudding in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the front porch 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," Annalouise responded, as she sat down to her prune pudding. "Let's hang lots of pea green balloons and cover the bookshelf and the bed with beige crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother softly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Thelma Russell. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a candy thermometer."
"Whee," Annalouise responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a pout. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."