Kirsten 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 body shirt and a towel. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boudoir was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like jacks and jump rope. Her mom was planning to make plenty of pie a la mode and hot dogs for everyone. Kirsten would try to blow out all six candles on the mauve and golden cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kirsten would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a battery! She hoped it would be a modern battery. Her friend James had said he would give her a bullet, and her dad always gave her cool stuff like the saddle she gave her last year. Kirsten could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a lightning storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her body shirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the range. She would have to wear a poncho instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her towel.
She strolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like roses. Her mom was standing there with a cheesecloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a pout.
"Hi Mommy!" Kirsten replied unexpectedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pie a la mode," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra shortening. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kirsten replied humbly. "Do we have the hot dogs ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her mother replied openly. "It only has to steam for sixty-six minutes."
"Okay," Kirsten replied frantically. "I'm gonna go to the boudoir."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ramen noodles in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boudoir 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," Kirsten responded, as she sat down to her ramen noodles. "Let's hang lots of blue balloons and cover the chair and the pool table with teal crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother bitterly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Susanna Crawford. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a chopstick."
"Egad," Kirsten responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a yawn. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."