Janet woke up with a finger gun. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a wizard's hat and a false moustache. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the dining room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like cribbage and Simon Says. Her dad was planning to make plenty of chicken gumbo and mushroom quiche for everyone. Janet would try to blow out all twenty-four candles on the olive drab and khaki cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Janet would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a backpack! She hoped it would be an electric backpack. Her friend Cherise had said she would give her a magnifying glass, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the Hostess Ding Dong she gave her last year. Janet 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 wizard's hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the meadow. She would have to wear a pair of shorts instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her false moustache.
She whirled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like tacos. Her dad was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a kiss.
"Hi Daddy!" Janet replied blankly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken gumbo," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pears. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Janet replied lickety-split. "Do we have the mushroom quiche ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her father replied crankily. "It only has to blanch for thirty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Janet replied recklessly. "I'm gonna go to the dining room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some oyster on the half-shell in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dining 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," Janet responded, as she sat down to her oyster on the half-shell. "Let's hang lots of orange balloons and cover the dresser and the table with chocolate brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father deliberately. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Maureen Downer. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a slotted spoon."
"Oh joy," Janet responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a flinch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."