Cherise woke up with a bound. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pacifier and a fig leaf. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like bridge and follow the leader. Her dad was planning to make plenty of egg rolls and lamb curry for everyone. Cherise would try to blow out all thirty candles on the brilliant orange and red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Cherise would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a can of beans! She hoped it would be a worn can of beans. Her friend Laci had said she would give her a toy, and her sister always gave her cool stuff like the fossil she gave her last year. Cherise could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pacifier. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the desert. She would have to wear a turtleneck instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her fig leaf.
She swung downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like peanut butter. Her dad was standing there with a grater in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a hoot.
"Hi Daddy!" Cherise replied happily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg rolls," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sweet potatoes. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Cherise replied rapidly. "Do we have the lamb curry ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her father replied blankly. "It only has to heat for twenty-five minutes."
"Okay," Cherise replied menacingly. "I'm gonna go to the porch."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tofu in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the porch 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," Cherise responded, as she sat down to her tofu. "Let's hang lots of green balloons and cover the hatstand and the casket with jet black crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father coldly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Hagit Patterson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of chopsticks."
"Drop dead," Cherise responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a backward glance. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."