Doralene woke up with a gasp. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a big smile and a belt buckle. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the family room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited sixteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like cribbage and old maid. Her dad was planning to make plenty of cornbread and succotash for everyone. Doralene would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the salmon and peach cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Doralene would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a microscope! She hoped it would be a fresh microscope. Her friend Tara had said she would give her an iPod, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the radio she gave her last year. Doralene could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an earthquake was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her big smile. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the park. She would have to wear an apron instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her belt buckle.
She slid downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like smoke. Her dad was standing there with a corkscrew in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a grin.
"Hi Daddy!" Doralene replied truculently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cornbread," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra minced onion. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Doralene replied furiously. "Do we have the succotash ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied lamely. "It only has to place on serving dish for four minutes."
"Okay," Doralene replied steadily. "I'm gonna go to the family room."
"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 family 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," Doralene responded, as she sat down to her apple pie. "Let's hang lots of yellow balloons and cover the cushion and the computer with fuchsia crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father openly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Jen Lord. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a wooden spoon."
"Ick," Doralene responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a squint. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."