Kyra woke up with a grunt. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a peacock costume and a false moustache. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the master bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like cribbage and seven-up. Her mom was planning to make plenty of clam chowder and banana split for everyone. Kyra would try to blow out all three candles on the rose and aquamarine cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kyra would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fingernail clipper! She hoped it would be a loose fingernail clipper. Her friend Nathaniel had said he would give her a coat hanger, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the pink flamingo she gave her last year. Kyra could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pelting rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her peacock costume. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the plain. She would have to wear a pair of moon boots instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her false moustache.
She crawled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fine perfume. Her mom was standing there with a strainer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a flutter.
"Hi Mommy!" Kyra replied offhandedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the clam chowder," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra carrots. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kyra replied recklessly. "Do we have the banana split ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied dubiously. "It only has to press for forty minutes."
"Okay," Kyra replied wearily. "I'm gonna go to the master bathroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some hot dogs in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the master bathroom 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," Kyra responded, as she sat down to her hot dogs. "Let's hang lots of brilliant orange balloons and cover the file cabinet and the toilet with chocolate brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother tearfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Sydney Kramer. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a food processor."
"Blimey," Kyra responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a pucker. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."