Katie woke up with a hoot. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of shoes and a hoodie. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the outhouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like Russian roulette and chess. Her mom was planning to make plenty of mushroom quiche and smoked salmon for everyone. Katie would try to blow out all nine candles on the yellow and khaki cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Katie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a tote bag! She hoped it would be a used tote bag. Her friend Brett had said he would give her a piece of paper, and her grandmother always gave her cool stuff like the basketball she gave her last year. Katie 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 pair of shoes. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the crime scene. She would have to wear a pair of bell-bottoms instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her hoodie.
She scampered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like burnt toast. Her mom was standing there with a strainer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a hoot.
"Hi Mommy!" Katie replied ruefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mushroom quiche," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra potato chips. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Katie replied fondly. "Do we have the smoked salmon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her mother replied intensely. "It only has to mix solemnly for forty-three minutes."
"Okay," Katie replied flightily. "I'm gonna go to the outhouse."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken soup in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the outhouse 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," Katie responded, as she sat down to her chicken soup. "Let's hang lots of scarlet balloons and cover the crib and the end table with olive drab crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother haughtily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Yolanda Snitley. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat thermometer."
"Godspeed," Katie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a curtsey. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."