Susanne woke up with a gurgle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a headscarf and a bedsheet. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the rec room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like jacks and Candy Land. Her dad was planning to make plenty of Swiss cheese and country glazed ham for everyone. Susanne would try to blow out all five candles on the sparkly and carrot-orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Susanne would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hubcap! She hoped it would be a speckled hubcap. Her friend Martha had said she would give her a doily, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the antenna she gave her last year. Susanne could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a driving rain was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her headscarf. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the jungle. She would have to wear a coat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bedsheet.
She jogged downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a pig. Her dad was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a roar.
"Hi Daddy!" Susanne replied joyously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Swiss cheese," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra chopped liver. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Susanne replied shakily. "Do we have the country glazed ham ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her father replied delicately. "It only has to heat for twenty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Susanne replied viciously. "I'm gonna go to the rec room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some potatoes 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," Susanne responded, as she sat down to her potatoes and gravy. "Let's hang lots of carrot-orange balloons and cover the bunk bed and the stool with yellow crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father queerly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Cassie Butterfield. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a sharp knife."
"Spiff," Susanne responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a gasp. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."