Ana woke up with a beam. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a jogging suit and a girdle. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the guest room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like cribbage and charades. Her dad was planning to make plenty of ravioli and falafel for everyone. Ana would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the azure and brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ana would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a football! She hoped it would be a hefty football. Her friend Peggy had said she would give her a shoe, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the bird bath she gave her last year. Ana 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 jogging suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the rainforest. She would have to wear a hearing aid instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her girdle.
She sauntered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like smoked fish. Her dad was standing there with a candy thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a jeer.
"Hi Daddy!" Ana replied softly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ravioli," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sauerkraut. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ana replied anxiously. "Do we have the falafel ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her father replied daintily. "It only has to blend for sixty-one minutes."
"Okay," Ana replied suddenly. "I'm gonna go to the guest room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some catfish stew in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the guest room 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," Ana responded, as she sat down to her catfish stew. "Let's hang lots of grey balloons and cover the bookshelf and the chair with yellow crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father fondly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Kristen Albrandt. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an egg cutter."
"There-there," Ana responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a sneeze. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."