Loreen woke up with a guffaw. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a belt and a military uniform. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like follow the leader and hearts. Her mom was planning to make plenty of scrambled eggs and moo goo gai pan for everyone. Loreen would try to blow out all six candles on the black and yellow cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Loreen would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an amulet! She hoped it would be a rusty amulet. Her friend Buster had said he would give her a chain, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the saddle she gave her last year. Loreen could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a gale was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her belt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the path. She would have to wear a pair of tights instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her military uniform.
She scampered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like gasoline. Her mom was standing there with a cheesecloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a snort.
"Hi Mommy!" Loreen replied sheepishly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the scrambled eggs," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra lemon juice. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Loreen replied vacantly. "Do we have the moo goo gai pan ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her mother replied ferociously. "It only has to marinate for twenty minutes."
"Okay," Loreen replied quickly. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"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 living 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," Loreen responded, as she sat down to her chicken soup. "Let's hang lots of navy blue balloons and cover the TV and the ping-pong table with rose crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother energetically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Stacy Lions. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a mixing spoon."
"Feh," Loreen responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sigh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."