Evelyn woke up with a cackle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a sport coat and a gladiator helmet. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the ballroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like volleyball and battleship. Her dad was planning to make plenty of mulligan stew and chicken chow mein for everyone. Evelyn would try to blow out all ten candles on the terra cotta and golden cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Evelyn would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a china doll! She hoped it would be a stuffed china doll. Her friend Abigail had said she would give her a dart, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the iPad she gave her last year. Evelyn could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her sport coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the path. She would have to wear a tailcoat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her gladiator helmet.
She stalked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like roast beef. Her dad was standing there with a piece of cheesecloth in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a stiff upper lip.
"Hi Daddy!" Evelyn replied sagely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mulligan stew," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra chopped onions. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Evelyn replied crossly. "Do we have the chicken chow mein ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her father replied uselessly. "It only has to arrange for eighty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Evelyn replied firmly. "I'm gonna go to the ballroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some refried beans in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the ballroom 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," Evelyn responded, as she sat down to her refried beans. "Let's hang lots of lavender balloons and cover the pillow and the rug with olive drab crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father testily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Tabitha Esposito. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a strainer."
"Gesundheit," Evelyn responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a pound of the chest. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."