Clio woke up with a furrowed brow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a nightgown and a diamond necklace. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the pantry was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like badminton and trivia. Her dad was planning to make plenty of corn on the cob and apple pie for everyone. Clio would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the fuchsia and pea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Clio would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a wastebasket! She hoped it would be a modern wastebasket. Her friend Zoe had said she would give her a coffee pot, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the paper bag she gave her last year. Clio could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a driving rain was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her nightgown. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the village. She would have to wear a blanket instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her diamond necklace.
She sneaked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Givenchy. Her dad was standing there with a wooden spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a snarl.
"Hi Daddy!" Clio replied nimbly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the corn on the cob," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra avocado. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Clio replied crankily. "Do we have the apple pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her father replied reluctantly. "It only has to freeze for one minute."
"Okay," Clio replied sheepishly. "I'm gonna go to the pantry."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cookies in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pantry 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," Clio responded, as she sat down to her cookies. "Let's hang lots of amber balloons and cover the cash register and the couch with yellow crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father sheepishly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Vanessa Lange. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"Granular," Clio responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a grunt. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."