Rosemary woke up with a grunt. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a diamond necklace and a cape. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the auditorium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like Clue and jacks. Her dad was planning to make plenty of oatmeal and biscuits and gravy for everyone. Rosemary would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the carrot-orange and indigo cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Rosemary would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pumpkin! She hoped it would be a fancy pumpkin. Her friend Bianca had said she would give her a bottle of perfume, and her aunt always gave her cool stuff like the pair of binoculars she gave her last year. Rosemary 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 diamond necklace. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the hayfield. She would have to wear a winter coat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cape.
She capered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a candle shop. Her dad was standing there with an egg cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a flinch.
"Hi Daddy!" Rosemary replied excitedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the oatmeal," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra tapioca. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Rosemary replied deftly. "Do we have the biscuits and gravy ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her father replied reluctantly. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for nineteen minutes."
"Okay," Rosemary replied repeatedly. "I'm gonna go to the auditorium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Froot Loops in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the auditorium 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," Rosemary responded, as she sat down to her Froot Loops. "Let's hang lots of violet balloons and cover the four-poster bed and the hope chest with jet black crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father sternly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Kami Dion. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a ladle."
"When pigs fly," Rosemary responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a frown. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."