Fawn woke up with a raised eyebrow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of sandals and a burqa. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boudoir was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like ring around the rosie and Simon Says. Her mom was planning to make plenty of duck a l'orange and squash blossom soup for everyone. Fawn would try to blow out all twenty-eight candles on the amber and crimson cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Fawn would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a toolbox! She hoped it would be a brittle toolbox. Her friend Jeff had said he would give her a diamond, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the china doll she gave her last year. Fawn could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a windstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of sandals. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the butte. She would have to wear a raincoat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her burqa.
She loped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like apple pie. Her mom was standing there with a knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a smile.
"Hi Mommy!" Fawn replied mysteriously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the duck a l'orange," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra lemon juice. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Fawn replied swiftly. "Do we have the squash blossom soup ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her mother replied demurely. "It only has to place on serving dish for eighty-four minutes."
"Okay," Fawn replied automatically. "I'm gonna go to the boudoir."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some moo goo gai pan 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," Fawn responded, as she sat down to her moo goo gai pan. "Let's hang lots of metallic red balloons and cover the coffee table and the chair with teal crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother hysterically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Susanna Collier. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a paring knife."
"Achoo," Fawn responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snuffle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."