Babs woke up with a sniffle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a hearing aid and a fur coat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the lounge was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like red rover and croquet. Her dad was planning to make plenty of candy and sushi for everyone. Babs would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the golden and amber cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Babs would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pen! She hoped it would be a tiny pen. Her friend Tamara had said she would give her a coffee pot, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the paper towel she gave her last year. Babs could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her hearing aid. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the cesspool. She would have to wear a raincoat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her fur coat.
She reeled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Chanel. Her dad was standing there with a mixing spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a bound.
"Hi Daddy!" Babs replied queerly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the candy," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pitted black olives. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Babs replied wildly. "Do we have the sushi ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her father replied sorrowfully. "It only has to mix properly for seventy-two minutes."
"Okay," Babs replied sternly. "I'm gonna go to the lounge."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some applesauce in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the lounge 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," Babs responded, as she sat down to her applesauce. "Let's hang lots of sea green balloons and cover the display case and the computer with mauve crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father solemnly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Joni Whitefoot. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a chopstick."
"Get outta here," Babs responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a clenched fist. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."