Kristi 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 tinfoil hat and a jogging suit. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the nursery was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like leapfrog and jacks. Her dad was planning to make plenty of roast turkey and oyster on the half-shell for everyone. Kristi would try to blow out all four candles on the aqua and turquoise cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kristi would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cookbook! She hoped it would be a cotton cookbook. Her friend Susanne had said she would give her a can of shaving cream, and her grandma always gave her cool stuff like the cactus plant she gave her last year. Kristi could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a tornado was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her tinfoil hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the battlefield. She would have to wear a pair of earmuffs instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her jogging suit.
She tore downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like sage. Her dad was standing there with a pair of chopsticks in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a simper.
"Hi Daddy!" Kristi replied deliberately. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast turkey," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra corn flakes. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kristi replied numbly. "Do we have the oyster on the half-shell ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her father replied glibly. "It only has to scramble for thirty-five minutes."
"Okay," Kristi replied immediately. "I'm gonna go to the nursery."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast Cornish game hen in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the nursery 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," Kristi responded, as she sat down to her roast Cornish game hen. "Let's hang lots of peach balloons and cover the rocking chair and the fainting couch with brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father boisterously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Magnolia Campbell. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Cowabunga," Kristi responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a shout. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."