Magnolia woke up with a chortle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a floppy hat and a baseball cap. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited sixteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like dominos and musical chairs. Her mom was planning to make plenty of tortillas and oyster on the half-shell for everyone. Magnolia would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the olive drab and white cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Magnolia would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a washrag! She hoped it would be a burned washrag. Her friend Montague had said he would give her a dart, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the pacifier she gave her last year. Magnolia could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her floppy hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the mesa. She would have to wear a pair of handcuffs instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her baseball cap.
She inched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like strawberries. Her mom was standing there with a meat thermometer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a titter.
"Hi Mommy!" Magnolia replied truculently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tortillas," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra rum. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Magnolia replied threateningly. "Do we have the oyster on the half-shell ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her mother replied suspiciously. "It only has to microwave for seventeen minutes."
"Okay," Magnolia replied briskly. "I'm gonna go to the closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lobster in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the closet 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," Magnolia responded, as she sat down to her lobster. "Let's hang lots of amber balloons and cover the washing machine and the end table with white crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother sadly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Audrey Barbee. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Amen," Magnolia responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a twitch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."