Agnes woke up with an air kiss. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a fig leaf and a bedsheet. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the conservatory was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like battleship and Clue. Her mom was planning to make plenty of French fries and dry toast for everyone. Agnes would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the ivory and aquamarine cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Agnes would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a coat hanger! She hoped it would be a huge coat hanger. Her friend Justin had said he would give her a basketball, and her wife always gave her cool stuff like the napkin she gave her last year. Agnes 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 fig leaf. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the badlands area. She would have to wear a bulletproof vest instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bedsheet.
She strode downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like chicken soup. Her mom was standing there with a wooden spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a grin.
"Hi Mommy!" Agnes replied calmly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the French fries," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra vanilla. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Agnes replied gingerly. "Do we have the dry toast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her mother replied delicately. "It only has to smoke for seventy-six minutes."
"Okay," Agnes replied hopelessly. "I'm gonna go to the conservatory."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some wienerschnitzel in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the conservatory 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," Agnes responded, as she sat down to her wienerschnitzel. "Let's hang lots of pink balloons and cover the rug and the chair with lime-green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother fiercely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Hagit Truong. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a sharp knife."
"Boy oh boy," Agnes responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with an air kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."