Ana woke up with a shout. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a set of braces and a feather boa. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boiler room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like trivia and charades. Her dad was planning to make plenty of chopped liver and ramen noodles for everyone. Ana would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the forest green and black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ana would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fire hose! She hoped it would be a thick fire hose. Her friend Drew had said she would give her a toilet seat, and her aunt always gave her cool stuff like the paper towel she gave her last year. Ana could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drizzle was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her set of braces. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the range. She would have to wear a wig instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her feather boa.
She zoomed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a hospital. Her dad was standing there with a pair of chopsticks in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a wink.
"Hi Daddy!" Ana replied confidently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chopped liver," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cream cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ana replied slowly. "Do we have the ramen noodles ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her father replied anxiously. "It only has to fry frantically in gaudy skillet for forty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Ana replied impatiently. "I'm gonna go to the boiler room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tacos in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boiler room 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," Ana responded, as she sat down to her tacos. "Let's hang lots of tan balloons and cover the hatstand and the bed with silver crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father wildly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Anne Melville. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an egg cutter."
"Oof," Ana responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a grimace. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."