Avery woke up with a honk. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a cardigan and a birthday suit. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like Rummy and volleyball. Her mom was planning to make plenty of corn on the cob and chicken gumbo for everyone. Avery would try to blow out all thirty-five candles on the sea green and silver cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Avery would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a knitting needle! She hoped it would be a shiny knitting needle. Her friend Nestor had said he would give her a Helmholz resonator, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the top she gave her last year. Avery could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her cardigan. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the lagoon. She would have to wear a tattoo instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her birthday suit.
She loped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a stagnant pond. Her mom was standing there with a paring knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a hoot.
"Hi Mommy!" Avery replied deftly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the corn on the cob," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra chopped celery. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Avery replied sweetly. "Do we have the chicken gumbo ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her mother replied shakily. "It only has to deep fry for sixty-six minutes."
"Okay," Avery replied nimbly. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"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 linen closet 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," Avery responded, as she sat down to her moo goo gai pan. "Let's hang lots of lavender balloons and cover the windowsill and the workbench with violet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother temperamentally. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Lily Whitney. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a whisk."
"Turn blue," Avery 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."