Fran woke up with a grimace. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pocket watch and a necklace. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like Clue and doctor. Her dad was planning to make plenty of egg salad sandwich and French fries for everyone. Fran would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the green and tan cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Fran would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a billfold! She hoped it would be a nifty billfold. Her friend Pleasance had said she would give her a toy, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the African violet she gave her last year. Fran could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pocket watch. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the gulch. She would have to wear a bathrobe instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her necklace.
She hopped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like freshly cut grass. Her dad was standing there with a paring knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a bound.
"Hi Daddy!" Fran replied gruffly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg salad sandwich," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra almond paste. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Fran replied curiously. "Do we have the French fries ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied menacingly. "It only has to sauté for four minutes."
"Okay," Fran replied suddenly. "I'm gonna go to the closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken gumbo in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the 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," Fran responded, as she sat down to her chicken gumbo. "Let's hang lots of brilliant orange balloons and cover the china hutch and the table with brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father kindly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Wendy Corona. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"Optimum," Fran 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."