Francene woke up with a smile. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a dog collar and a pair of boxer shorts. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the attic was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like badminton and red light green light. Her dad was planning to make plenty of chicken gumbo and crumb cake for everyone. Francene would try to blow out all fifteen candles on the navy blue and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Francene would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an orchid! She hoped it would be an aromatic orchid. Her friend Marisa had said she would give her a cork, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the rubber chicken she gave her last year. Francene could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her dog collar. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the lakeside. She would have to wear a jogging suit instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of boxer shorts.
She skipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Pla-Doh. Her dad was standing there with a mixing spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a frown.
"Hi Daddy!" Francene replied briskly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken gumbo," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra water chestnuts. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Francene replied slowly. "Do we have the crumb cake ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her father replied stealthily. "It only has to heat in microwave for twenty-four minutes."
"Okay," Francene replied vacantly. "I'm gonna go to the attic."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some banana split in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the attic 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," Francene responded, as she sat down to her banana split. "Let's hang lots of tan balloons and cover the carpet and the hamper with red crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father nonchalantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Sydmo Sanchez. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a paring knife."
"Far out," Francene responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a bow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."