Marla woke up with a frown. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a nightgown and a bonnet. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-one of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like Mother May I and chess. Her dad was planning to make plenty of duck a l'orange and egg rolls for everyone. Marla would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the terra cotta and carrot-orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Marla would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a shoe! She hoped it would be a fluffy shoe. Her friend Hillary had said she would give her a camera, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the necklace she gave her last year. Marla could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her nightgown. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the housing development. She would have to wear a pair of nylons instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bonnet.
She leapt downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pineapple. Her dad was standing there with a wooden spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with an evil eye.
"Hi Daddy!" Marla replied threateningly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the duck a l'orange," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra bacon. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Marla replied sternly. "Do we have the egg rolls ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her father replied defiantly. "It only has to toast for forty-five minutes."
"Okay," Marla replied carefully. "I'm gonna go to the closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pumpkin pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the closet 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," Marla responded, as she sat down to her pumpkin pie. "Let's hang lots of peach balloons and cover the display case and the cushion with blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father ignobly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Marisa Broghammer. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a bare foot."
"Golly whiz," Marla responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a sneer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."