Jeanette 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 cloak and a pair of briefs. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the kitchen was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like Russian roulette and pool. Her dad was planning to make plenty of pretzels and refried beans for everyone. Jeanette would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the burgundy and aqua cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jeanette would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an artificial flower! She hoped it would be a papery artificial flower. Her friend Meghan had said she would give her a piece of candy, and her main squeeze always gave her cool stuff like the paper towel she gave her last year. Jeanette could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her cloak. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the canyon. She would have to wear a flak jacket instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of briefs.
She waded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like an old goat. Her dad was standing there with a dull knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a guffaw.
"Hi Daddy!" Jeanette replied lovingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pretzels," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra tapioca. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jeanette replied fondly. "Do we have the refried beans ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her father replied sternly. "It only has to sauté for forty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Jeanette replied innocently. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"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 kitchen 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," Jeanette responded, as she sat down to her apple pie. "Let's hang lots of white balloons and cover the table and the dresser with aquamarine crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father demurely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Sophia Trane. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a melon baller."
"Remarkable," Jeanette responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a wink. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."