Nakisha woke up with a cackle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in an 'I'm with Stupid' shirt and a pair of cowboy boots. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the rec room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like hearts and hearts. Her dad was planning to make plenty of pancakes and pumpkin pie for everyone. Nakisha would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the camouflage and metallic red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Nakisha would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hockey puck! She hoped it would be a polished hockey puck. Her friend Fran had said she would give her a pinwheel, and her main squeeze always gave her cool stuff like the cell phone she gave her last year. Nakisha could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her 'I'm with Stupid' shirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the savanna. She would have to wear a hearing aid instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of cowboy boots.
She made a beeline downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fine perfume. Her dad was standing there with an ice pick in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a cackle.
"Hi Daddy!" Nakisha replied charmingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pancakes," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cheddar cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Nakisha replied craftily. "Do we have the pumpkin pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her father replied numbly. "It only has to roast for sixty-four minutes."
"Okay," Nakisha replied threateningly. "I'm gonna go to the rec room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some biscuits and gravy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the rec 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," Nakisha responded, as she sat down to her biscuits and gravy. "Let's hang lots of red balloons and cover the bookshelf and the bath mat with forest green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father needlessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Savannah Kringle. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato masher."
"Very well done," Nakisha 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."