Constance woke up with a face palm. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a corsage and a cat suit. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the front porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like backgammon and battleship. Her mom was planning to make plenty of apple pie and egg rolls for everyone. Constance would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the magenta and ivory cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Constance would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a horseshoe! She hoped it would be an imitation horseshoe. Her friend Pedro had said he would give her a firecracker, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the hockey puck she gave her last year. Constance could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sandstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her corsage. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the moonscape. She would have to wear a floppy hat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cat suit.
She rolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a feed lot. Her mom was standing there with a basting brush in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a glare.
"Hi Mommy!" Constance replied testily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the apple pie," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra green beans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Constance replied vigorously. "Do we have the egg rolls ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied recklessly. "It only has to slow cook for fifty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Constance replied madly. "I'm gonna go to the front porch."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some corn on the cob in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the front porch 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," Constance responded, as she sat down to her corn on the cob. "Let's hang lots of teal balloons and cover the umbrella stand and the cushion with turquoise crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother nonchalantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Roxanne Kemp. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a sharp knife."
"Indeed," Constance responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a bow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."