Kelley woke up with a gurgle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a midi skirt and a false beard. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the servant's quarters was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-one of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like tag and backgammon. Her mom was planning to make plenty of lobster bisque and omelet for everyone. Kelley would try to blow out all nine candles on the khaki and chocolate brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kelley would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a baby doll! She hoped it would be a smooth baby doll. Her friend Howard had said he would give her a pencil sharpener, and her grandmother always gave her cool stuff like the coffee pot she gave her last year. Kelley could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hailstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her midi skirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the battlefield. She would have to wear an earring instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her false beard.
She darted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like roast beef. Her mom was standing there with a strainer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a hug.
"Hi Mommy!" Kelley replied sternly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lobster bisque," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra onion. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kelley replied daintily. "Do we have the omelet ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied reluctantly. "It only has to heat for thirty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Kelley replied deliberately. "I'm gonna go to the servant's quarters."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some dirty rice in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the servant's quarters 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," Kelley responded, as she sat down to her dirty rice. "Let's hang lots of blue balloons and cover the ironing board and the bunk bed with orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother truculently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Carey Clinton. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a food processor."
"Pow," Kelley responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a fist bump. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."