Zoe woke up with a finger gun. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of cycling shorts and a pair of handcuffs. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the basement was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like pool and Mother May I. Her dad was planning to make plenty of wienerschnitzel and dry toast for everyone. Zoe would try to blow out all seven candles on the white and mauve cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Zoe would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an accordion! She hoped it would be a wet accordion. Her friend Martina had said she would give her a comb, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the fire hose she gave her last year. Zoe could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sandstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of cycling shorts. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the housing development. She would have to wear a pair of Oxfords instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of handcuffs.
She flounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Avon. Her dad was standing there with an egg cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a cringe.
"Hi Daddy!" Zoe replied dreamily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the wienerschnitzel," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra rum. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Zoe replied lamely. "Do we have the dry toast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her father replied wryly. "It only has to roast for eighty-two minutes."
"Okay," Zoe replied gratefully. "I'm gonna go to the basement."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cinnamon toast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the basement 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," Zoe responded, as she sat down to her cinnamon toast. "Let's hang lots of chocolate brown balloons and cover the bathtub and the coat rack with tan crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father sarcastically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Lois Bobble. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a food processor."
"Bless my hide," Zoe responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a backward glance. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."