Antoinette 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 maxi skirt and a pair of moccasins. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the dungeon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Simon Says and leapfrog. Her mom was planning to make plenty of clam chowder and egg salad sandwich for everyone. Antoinette would try to blow out all six candles on the sparkly and teal cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Antoinette would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bullet! She hoped it would be a frilly bullet. Her friend Jude had said he would give her an advertisement, and her grandma always gave her cool stuff like the pillow she gave her last year. Antoinette could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pall of doom was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her maxi skirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the glen. She would have to wear a pair of socks instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of moccasins.
She flounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like liver and onions. Her mom was standing there with a bare foot in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a cheer.
"Hi Mommy!" Antoinette replied quietly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the clam chowder," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra parsley. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Antoinette replied sarcastically. "Do we have the egg salad sandwich ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her mother replied properly. "It only has to blanch for sixty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Antoinette replied impatiently. "I'm gonna go to the dungeon."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken gumbo in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dungeon 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," Antoinette responded, as she sat down to her chicken gumbo. "Let's hang lots of beige balloons and cover the floor and the bookshelf with chocolate brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother queerly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Paula Valentine. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato masher."
"Remarkable," Antoinette responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a squint. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."