Eve woke up with a shout. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a miniskirt and a diaper. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the library was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like baseball and poker. Her mom was planning to make plenty of chicken chow mein and macaroni for everyone. Eve would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the brilliant orange and black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Eve would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pair of pliers! She hoped it would be a fluffy pair of pliers. Her friend Arturo had said he would give her a bagpipe, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the chair she gave her last year. Eve could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her miniskirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the ridge. She would have to wear a set of braces instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her diaper.
She climbed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like chocolate cake. Her mom was standing there with a ladle in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a sniffle.
"Hi Mommy!" Eve replied fondly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken chow mein," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra peeled carrots. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Eve replied hastily. "Do we have the macaroni ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her mother replied innocently. "It only has to smoke for seventy-four minutes."
"Okay," Eve replied sheepishly. "I'm gonna go to the library."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some sweet potatoes in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the library 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," Eve responded, as she sat down to her sweet potatoes. "Let's hang lots of red balloons and cover the hope chest and the hope chest with teal crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother later. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Shawna Osaka. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a paring knife."
"So sure," Eve responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a roar. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."