Natalie woke up with a chuckle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a straitjacket and a corset. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the master bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like Monopoly and tag. Her mom was planning to make plenty of egg salad sandwich and pumpkin pie for everyone. Natalie would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the purple and chartreuse cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Natalie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an abacus! She hoped it would be a hand-painted abacus. Her friend Robert had said he would give her an iPod, and her main squeeze always gave her cool stuff like the pipe she gave her last year. Natalie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her straitjacket. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the neighborhood. She would have to wear a pair of tights instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her corset.
She scurried downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a wet dog. Her mom was standing there with an electric mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a shout.
"Hi Mommy!" Natalie replied boldly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg salad sandwich," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra corn oil. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Natalie replied madly. "Do we have the pumpkin pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her mother replied oddly. "It only has to sear for twenty minutes."
"Okay," Natalie replied blankly. "I'm gonna go to the master bathroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some duck a l'orange in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the master bathroom 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," Natalie responded, as she sat down to her duck a l'orange. "Let's hang lots of pink balloons and cover the crib and the coffee table with camouflage crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother defiantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Triffid Ivanov. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a food processor."
"Holy frijole," Natalie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a titter. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."