Liz woke up with a flutter. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of tights and a negligee. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boiler room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like croquet and cribbage. Her dad was planning to make plenty of burritos and fish and chips for everyone. Liz would try to blow out all twelve candles on the fuchsia and pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Liz would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a saw! She hoped it would be a narrow saw. Her friend Laura had said she would give her a stack of papers, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the billfold she gave her last year. Liz could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a windstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of tights. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the lagoon. She would have to wear a pair of flip-flops instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her negligee.
She tumbled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like creosote. Her dad was standing there with a turkey baster in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a wink.
"Hi Daddy!" Liz replied ignobly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the burritos," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra rice noodles. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Liz replied repeatedly. "Do we have the fish and chips ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her father replied slowly. "It only has to freeze for thirty-six minutes."
"Okay," Liz replied innocently. "I'm gonna go to the boiler room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some wienerschnitzel in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boiler room 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," Liz responded, as she sat down to her wienerschnitzel. "Let's hang lots of polka dotted balloons and cover the bench and the futon with salmon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father calmly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Katie Nussbaum. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Beats me," Liz responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a yawn. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."