Judy woke up with a laugh. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bonnet and a jumpsuit. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boudoir was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like trivia and Mother May I. Her dad was planning to make plenty of strawberry shortcake and chopped liver for everyone. Judy would try to blow out all eight candles on the emerald green and striped cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Judy would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a rock! She hoped it would be a hard rock. Her friend Vera had said she would give her a dollhouse, and her sister always gave her cool stuff like the pencil she gave her last year. Judy could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bonnet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the crime scene. She would have to wear a headscarf instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her jumpsuit.
She traipsed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like dill pickles. Her dad was standing there with a fork in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a flutter.
"Hi Daddy!" Judy replied brashly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the strawberry shortcake," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra bacon fat. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Judy replied hastily. "Do we have the chopped liver ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her father replied boldly. "It only has to slow cook for forty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Judy replied uneasily. "I'm gonna go to the boudoir."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Froot Loops in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boudoir 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," Judy responded, as she sat down to her Froot Loops. "Let's hang lots of indigo balloons and cover the china cabinet and the filing cabinet with magenta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father joyously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Samina van Dorn. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a wooden spoon."
"Ay chihuahua," Judy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a hug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."