Anne woke up with a curtsey. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of earmuffs and a pair of dentures. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the laundry room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like Cootie and dodge ball. Her dad was planning to make plenty of cherries jubilee and roast beef for everyone. Anne would try to blow out all two candles on the amber and navy blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Anne would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Lego set! She hoped it would be a damaged Lego set. Her friend Elaine had said she would give her a hammer, and her aunt always gave her cool stuff like the horseshoe she gave her last year. Anne could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a driving rain was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of earmuffs. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the mountaintop. She would have to wear a pair of shorts instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of dentures.
She padded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like mushrooms. Her dad was standing there with a grater in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a fist bump.
"Hi Daddy!" Anne replied narrowly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cherries jubilee," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sweet potatoes. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Anne replied again. "Do we have the roast beef ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her father replied cheerfully. "It only has to poach lightly for fifty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Anne replied despondently. "I'm gonna go to the laundry room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chocolate-covered ants in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the laundry 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," Anne responded, as she sat down to her chocolate-covered ants. "Let's hang lots of lime-green balloons and cover the bookcase and the wardrobe with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father resignedly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Xaviera Owens. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a foot."
"My land," Anne responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a shrug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."