Evelyn woke up with a stiff upper lip. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a smartwatch and a gun belt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the outhouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited sixteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like poker and Scrabble. Her mom was planning to make plenty of roast beef and burritos for everyone. Evelyn would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the red and polka dotted cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Evelyn would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a paper towel! She hoped it would be a crisp paper towel. Her friend José had said he would give her a map, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the sponge she gave her last year. Evelyn 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 smartwatch. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the hillside. She would have to wear a diamond necklace instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her gun belt.
She climbed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like baby powder. Her mom was standing there with an electric paint mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a sniff.
"Hi Mommy!" Evelyn replied repeatedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast beef," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra lettuce. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Evelyn replied cruelly. "Do we have the burritos ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her mother replied clumsily. "It only has to melt for seventy-three minutes."
"Okay," Evelyn replied brightly. "I'm gonna go to the outhouse."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some oatmeal in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the outhouse 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," Evelyn responded, as she sat down to her oatmeal. "Let's hang lots of orange balloons and cover the end table and the sofa with camouflage crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother woefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Agnes Bernal. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of chopsticks."
"No way," Evelyn responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a bow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."