Lorrie woke up with a hiccup. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a poncho and a swimsuit. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the tool shed was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like golf and bridge. Her mom was planning to make plenty of dirty rice and pecan pie for everyone. Lorrie would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the fuchsia and jade cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lorrie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bass viol! She hoped it would be a ruined bass viol. Her friend Lee had said he would give her a remote control, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the thumb drive she gave her last year. Lorrie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her poncho. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the pond. She would have to wear a skeleton costume instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her swimsuit.
She sneaked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like coconut. Her mom was standing there with a basting brush in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a dope slap.
"Hi Mommy!" Lorrie replied openly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the dirty rice," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra stuffed green olives. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lorrie replied sympathetically. "Do we have the pecan pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied happily. "It only has to poach lightly for forty-six minutes."
"Okay," Lorrie replied crankily. "I'm gonna go to the tool shed."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some crumb cake in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the tool shed 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," Lorrie responded, as she sat down to her crumb cake. "Let's hang lots of turquoise balloons and cover the bookcase and the sofa with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother frenetically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Alyssa Pythagoras. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a blender."
"Tut-tut," Lorrie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a death glare. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."