Michelle woke up with a yawn. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a letter jacket and a bathrobe. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the corridor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like dodge ball and Rummy. Her mom was planning to make plenty of doughnuts and ham for everyone. Michelle would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the burgundy and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Michelle would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pencil sharpener! She hoped it would be an ordinary pencil sharpener. Her friend Vince had said he would give her a ball, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the baseball she gave her last year. Michelle could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her letter jacket. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the marsh. She would have to wear a headscarf instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bathrobe.
She capered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like sour milk. Her mom was standing there with a pastry blender in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a hug.
"Hi Mommy!" Michelle replied ruefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the doughnuts," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra pecan pieces. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Michelle replied testily. "Do we have the ham ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her mother replied miserably. "It only has to microwave for eighty-five minutes."
"Okay," Michelle replied dolorously. "I'm gonna go to the corridor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some mushroom quiche 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," Michelle responded, as she sat down to her mushroom quiche. "Let's hang lots of terra cotta balloons and cover the settee and the pool table with blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother demurely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Heather Krause. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a basting brush."
"Optimum," Michelle responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a jeer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."