Ada Belle woke up with a flush. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a wedding dress and a raincoat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the workshop was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like hearts and Parcheesi. Her dad was planning to make plenty of hash and popcorn for everyone. Ada Belle would try to blow out all thirty-five candles on the magenta and rose cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ada Belle would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an ingot of plutonium! She hoped it would be an imitation ingot of plutonium. Her friend Pallavi had said she would give her a toilet plunger, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the telephone she gave her last year. Ada Belle could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her wedding dress. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the landfill. She would have to wear a burqa instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her raincoat.
She slunk downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like mango. Her dad was standing there with a bare foot in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a belly laugh.
"Hi Daddy!" Ada Belle replied sleepily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hash," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra crabmeat. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ada Belle replied elatedly. "Do we have the popcorn ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her father replied immediately. "It only has to poach lightly for seventy-one minutes."
"Okay," Ada Belle replied positively. "I'm gonna go to the workshop."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some catfish stew in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the workshop 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," Ada Belle responded, as she sat down to her catfish stew. "Let's hang lots of yellow balloons and cover the computer and the safe with green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father warily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Giselle de Leon. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a strainer."
"As if," Ada Belle responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a woof. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."