Lorie woke up with a shiver. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a stethoscope and a bathrobe. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the family room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like checkers and shuffleboard. Her mom was planning to make plenty of lasagna and enchiladas for everyone. Lorie would try to blow out all thirty candles on the chocolate brown and chocolate brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lorie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fossil! She hoped it would be a fuzzy fossil. Her friend Simeon had said he would give her a flag, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the bullet she gave her last year. Lorie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her stethoscope. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the battlefield. She would have to wear a pair of briefs instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bathrobe.
She flew downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like moldy leftovers. Her mom was standing there with a whisk in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a snigger.
"Hi Mommy!" Lorie replied majestically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lasagna," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra sour cream. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lorie replied sheepishly. "Do we have the enchiladas ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her mother replied boisterously. "It only has to marinate for thirty-six minutes."
"Okay," Lorie replied defiantly. "I'm gonna go to the family room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some enchiladas in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the family 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," Lorie responded, as she sat down to her enchiladas. "Let's hang lots of silver balloons and cover the hamper and the rocking chair with grey crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother lamely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Merna Eisley. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric paint mixer."
"Totally rad," Lorie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a power fist. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."