Valerie woke up with a woof. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a G-string and a cowboy hat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the study was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited sixteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like badminton and Candy Land. Her mom was planning to make plenty of banana split and egg salad sandwich for everyone. Valerie would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the black and fuchsia cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Valerie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a clock! She hoped it would be an ordinary clock. Her friend Owen had said he would give her a statue, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the ball she gave her last year. Valerie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a tornado was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her G-string. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the mountain. She would have to wear a girdle instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cowboy hat.
She jogged downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Cartier. Her mom was standing there with a basting brush in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a sigh.
"Hi Mommy!" Valerie replied fondly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the banana split," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra mustard. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Valerie replied innocently. "Do we have the egg salad sandwich ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her mother replied threateningly. "It only has to poach lightly for eighty minutes."
"Okay," Valerie replied dolefully. "I'm gonna go to the study."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fried okra in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the study 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," Valerie responded, as she sat down to her fried okra. "Let's hang lots of brown balloons and cover the carpet and the hamper with forest green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother blindly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Katherine Falcon. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a garlic press."
"Meow," Valerie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a wink. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."