Maria woke up with a flinch. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a mask and a pair of roller skates. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the lounge was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like red light green light and musical chairs. Her dad was planning to make plenty of waffles and egg drop soup for everyone. Maria would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the pea green and chocolate brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Maria would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a ping-pong paddle! She hoped it would be a gross ping-pong paddle. Her friend Cinderella had said she would give her a coffee pot, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the joint she gave her last year. Maria could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her mask. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the battlefield. She would have to wear a gorilla suit instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of roller skates.
She skidded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like mint. Her dad was standing there with a basting brush in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a hiccup.
"Hi Daddy!" Maria replied languidly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the waffles," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra blue cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Maria replied sagely. "Do we have the egg drop soup ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her father replied rapidly. "It only has to marinate for eighty-two minutes."
"Okay," Maria replied suavely. "I'm gonna go to the lounge."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some bonbons in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the lounge 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," Maria responded, as she sat down to her bonbons. "Let's hang lots of pea green balloons and cover the chair and the coat rack with lime-green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father timidly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Morgan Al-Ghareeb. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a bare foot."
"I don't think so," Maria 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."