Lorie woke up with a titter. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a birthday suit and a sombrero. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the atrium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like old maid and backgammon. Her mom was planning to make plenty of scrambled eggs and candy for everyone. Lorie would try to blow out all fifteen candles on the chartreuse and chartreuse cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lorie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a crayon! She hoped it would be a colossal crayon. Her friend Sam had said he would give her a baby doll, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the antenna she gave her last year. Lorie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a driving rain was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her birthday suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the desert. She would have to wear a necktie instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her sombrero.
She galloped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like gasoline. Her mom was standing there with a spatula in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a simper.
"Hi Mommy!" Lorie replied fondly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the scrambled eggs," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cilantro. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lorie replied carefully. "Do we have the candy ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her mother replied recklessly. "It only has to poach lightly for fifty-four minutes."
"Okay," Lorie replied grimly. "I'm gonna go to the atrium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some mashed potatoes in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the atrium 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," Lorie responded, as she sat down to her mashed potatoes. "Let's hang lots of sparkly balloons and cover the ping-pong table and the desk with pea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother awkwardly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Frances Arthur. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"Great," Lorie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a laugh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."