Toni woke up with a kiss. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a cloak and a straitjacket. 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 seven hours playing fun games like dodge ball and Parcheesi. Her mom was planning to make plenty of hors d'oeuvre and egg rolls for everyone. Toni would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the polka dotted and violet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Toni would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pickle! She hoped it would be a hand-made pickle. Her friend Rip had said he would give her a magazine, and her wife always gave her cool stuff like the candy bar she gave her last year. Toni could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blizzard was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her cloak. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the oasis. She would have to wear a set of pink foam curlers instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her straitjacket.
She jogged downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like onions. Her mom was standing there with a cheesecloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a titter.
"Hi Mommy!" Toni replied sadly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hors d'oeuvre," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra turmeric. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Toni replied courageously. "Do we have the egg rolls ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her mother replied grudgingly. "It only has to smoke for twenty-two minutes."
"Okay," Toni replied narrowly. "I'm gonna go to the front porch."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some steak 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," Toni responded, as she sat down to her steak. "Let's hang lots of aqua balloons and cover the counter and the footstool with striped crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother tearfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Francene Thurston. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an oven mitt."
"Fiddlesticks," Toni 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."