Ruth woke up with a stiff upper lip. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of Reeboks and a surgical mask. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the laundry room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like red rover and dominos. Her dad was planning to make plenty of steak and roast beef for everyone. Ruth would try to blow out all nine candles on the emerald green and white cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ruth would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a spool of thread! She hoped it would be a large spool of thread. Her friend Louise had said she would give her a peanut, and her grandmother always gave her cool stuff like the button she gave her last year. Ruth could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blizzard was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of Reeboks. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the neighborhood. She would have to wear a false beard instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her surgical mask.
She inched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like road kill. Her dad was standing there with an electric paint mixer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a tear.
"Hi Daddy!" Ruth replied carefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the steak," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra apple slices. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ruth replied shyly. "Do we have the roast beef ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her father replied vacantly. "It only has to freeze for forty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Ruth replied truculently. "I'm gonna go to the laundry room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken gumbo in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the laundry 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," Ruth responded, as she sat down to her chicken gumbo. "Let's hang lots of crimson balloons and cover the billiard table and the dishwasher with grey crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father quietly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Camella Munich. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a whisk."
"Abracadabra," Ruth responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a frown. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."