Minnie woke up with a flinch. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a necktie and a pair of flip-flops. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like treasure hunt and Rummy. Her dad was planning to make plenty of beef bouillon and roast turkey for everyone. Minnie would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the khaki and indigo cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Minnie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a sack of potatoes! She hoped it would be a puzzling sack of potatoes. Her friend Madison had said she would give her a gun, and her dad always gave her cool stuff like the telephone book she gave her last year. Minnie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her necktie. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the trail. She would have to wear a necktie instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of flip-flops.
She rolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like tobacco. Her dad was standing there with a food processor in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a snarl.
"Hi Daddy!" Minnie replied warmly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the beef bouillon," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra frankfurters. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Minnie replied hopelessly. "Do we have the roast turkey ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her father replied firmly. "It only has to braise for ten minutes."
"Okay," Minnie replied energetically. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lime sherbet 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 father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Minnie responded, as she sat down to her lime sherbet. "Let's hang lots of beige balloons and cover the water bed and the water bed with jet black crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father strictly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Dani Dixon. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a knife."
"I'll drink to that," Minnie 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."