Kayla woke up with a jeer. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a ribbon and a necklace. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the patio was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like roulette and baseball. Her dad was planning to make plenty of brownies and lamb curry for everyone. Kayla would try to blow out all five candles on the chocolate brown and orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kayla would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an orchid! She hoped it would be a bulky orchid. Her friend Patty had said she would give her a package, and her aunt always gave her cool stuff like the hat she gave her last year. Kayla could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her ribbon. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the forest. She would have to wear an evening gown instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her necklace.
She flew downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a chocolate factory. Her dad was standing there with a fork in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a smile.
"Hi Daddy!" Kayla replied pityingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the brownies," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra shrimp. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kayla replied sadly. "Do we have the lamb curry ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her father replied carefully. "It only has to sear outside for seventy-four minutes."
"Okay," Kayla replied properly. "I'm gonna go to the patio."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cotton candy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the patio 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," Kayla responded, as she sat down to her cotton candy. "Let's hang lots of black balloons and cover the catbird seat and the bunk bed with camouflage crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father miserably. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Cynthia Cole. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat thermometer."
"Kazow," Kayla responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a caress. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."