Marvella woke up with a shrug. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bandana and a T-shirt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the outhouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like old maid and musical chairs. Her dad was planning to make plenty of chicken chow mein and chocolate-covered ants for everyone. Marvella would try to blow out all fourteen candles on the jade and violet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Marvella would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a peach! She hoped it would be a waxy peach. Her friend Darlene had said she would give her a baton, and her dad always gave her cool stuff like the chain she gave her last year. Marvella could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bandana. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the mesa. She would have to wear a set of vampire fangs instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her T-shirt.
She reeled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like nachos. Her dad was standing there with a slotted spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a belch.
"Hi Daddy!" Marvella replied unnaturally. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken chow mein," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra beef sirloin tips. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Marvella replied fearlessly. "Do we have the chocolate-covered ants ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her father replied despondently. "It only has to scramble for twenty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Marvella replied glibly. "I'm gonna go to the outhouse."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fried eggs in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the outhouse 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," Marvella responded, as she sat down to her fried eggs. "Let's hang lots of olive green balloons and cover the wooden crate and the wardrobe with pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father quickly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Elise Wells. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a wooden spoon."
"Zowie," Marvella responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a cringe. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."