Carolyn woke up with a pound of the chest. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of contact lenses and a Speedo. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the tool shed was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like Clue and pool. Her mom was planning to make plenty of ham and tofu for everyone. Carolyn would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the brown and salmon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Carolyn would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a package! She hoped it would be a dusty package. Her friend Biff had said he would give her a fish bowl, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the floppy disk she gave her last year. Carolyn could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of contact lenses. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the meadow. She would have to wear a pair of boxer shorts instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her Speedo.
She rushed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like creosote. Her mom was standing there with a slotted spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a blush.
"Hi Mommy!" Carolyn replied blissfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ham," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra corn oil. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Carolyn replied tensely. "Do we have the tofu ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her mother replied admiringly. "It only has to press for nine minutes."
"Okay," Carolyn replied suavely. "I'm gonna go to the tool shed."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some waffles 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," Carolyn responded, as she sat down to her waffles. "Let's hang lots of pea green balloons and cover the card table and the carpet with khaki crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother truculently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Thelma Hoffmann. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dull knife."
"Gee whiz," Carolyn responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a curtsey. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."