Kami woke up with a flush. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a diamond bracelet and a bedsheet. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the corridor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited sixteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like poker and croquet. Her mom was planning to make plenty of lobster bisque and ham for everyone. Kami would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the aquamarine and maroon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kami would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a baseball! She hoped it would be an art deco baseball. Her friend Cliff had said he would give her a compass, and her grandmother always gave her cool stuff like the feather duster she gave her last year. Kami could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her diamond bracelet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the valley. She would have to wear a garland instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bedsheet.
She capered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fish. Her mom was standing there with a slotted spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a titter.
"Hi Mommy!" Kami replied strangely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lobster bisque," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cornmeal. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kami replied gruffly. "Do we have the ham ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her mother replied caustically. "It only has to spoon into container for eighty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Kami replied carefully. "I'm gonna go to the corridor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tacos in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the corridor 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," Kami responded, as she sat down to her tacos. "Let's hang lots of olive green balloons and cover the hatstand and the overstuffed chair with chocolate brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother silently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Valerie Trott. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of tongs."
"Big whoop," Kami responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a wink. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."