Azalea woke up with a fist bump. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bikini and a pair of suspenders. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the attic was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like old maid and roulette. Her dad was planning to make plenty of clam chowder and lamb curry for everyone. Azalea would try to blow out all twelve candles on the red and aquamarine cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Azalea would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a dollar bill! She hoped it would be a gaudy dollar bill. Her friend Elena had said she would give her an iPod, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the fork she gave her last year. Azalea could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bikini. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the tundra. She would have to wear a hat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of suspenders.
She crept downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like gingersnaps. Her dad was standing there with a potato peeler in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a stiff upper lip.
"Hi Daddy!" Azalea replied reluctantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the clam chowder," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra tapioca. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Azalea replied flightily. "Do we have the lamb curry ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her father replied gingerly. "It only has to scramble for seven minutes."
"Okay," Azalea replied glumly. "I'm gonna go to the attic."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some corn on the cob in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the attic 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," Azalea responded, as she sat down to her corn on the cob. "Let's hang lots of yellow balloons and cover the file cabinet and the chest of drawers with tan crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father cleverly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Anne Hudson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a grater."
"Gadzooks and crapadoodle," Azalea responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a shrug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."