Veronica woke up with a wag of the finger. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of tights and a pair of heels. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the cage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like rummy and hearts. Her dad was planning to make plenty of chopped liver and sauerkraut for everyone. Veronica would try to blow out all fifteen candles on the jet black and magenta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Veronica would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bedpan! She hoped it would be a coarse bedpan. Her friend Ruth had said she would give her a toilet seat, and her main squeeze always gave her cool stuff like the houseplant she gave her last year. Veronica could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of tights. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the crime scene. She would have to wear a party hat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of heels.
She bounded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like mountain air. Her dad was standing there with an electric paint mixer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a snort.
"Hi Daddy!" Veronica replied suspiciously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chopped liver," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh parsley. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Veronica replied mysteriously. "Do we have the sauerkraut ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her father replied strangely. "It only has to blend for twenty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Veronica replied fearfully. "I'm gonna go to the cage."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some apple pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the cage 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," Veronica responded, as she sat down to her apple pie. "Let's hang lots of crimson balloons and cover the buffet and the rug with brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father oddly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Nelda Dotson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a food processor."
"Hello," Veronica responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a crow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."