Motormouth woke up with a grimace. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a jumper and a sport coat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the auditorium 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 blackjack and rummy. Her dad was planning to make plenty of blueberry pie and steak for everyone. Motormouth would try to blow out all nine candles on the khaki and olive drab cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Motormouth would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pair of tweezers! She hoped it would be a woven pair of tweezers. Her friend Eppie had said she would give her a sponge, and her grandma always gave her cool stuff like the microscope she gave her last year. Motormouth could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her jumper. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the dumpster. She would have to wear a pair of shin guards instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her sport coat.
She bounded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a wet dog. Her dad was standing there with a piece of cheesecloth in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a death glare.
"Hi Daddy!" Motormouth replied caustically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the blueberry pie," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra honey. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Motormouth replied demurely. "Do we have the steak ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied boldly. "It only has to simmer for seventy-three minutes."
"Okay," Motormouth replied cruelly. "I'm gonna go to the auditorium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some crumb cake in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the auditorium first?" she begged.
"It looks just like it always does," her father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Motormouth responded, as she sat down to her crumb cake. "Let's hang lots of sparkly balloons and cover the pool table and the cushion with peach crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father cleverly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Lucy Brown. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a paring knife."
"Crackers," Motormouth responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a face palm. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."