Bernadette 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 towel and a ribbon. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eleven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like crazy eights and badminton. Her dad was planning to make plenty of hors d'oeuvre and moo goo gai pan for everyone. Bernadette would try to blow out all four candles on the lavender and pea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Bernadette would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a grease gun! She hoped it would be a hard grease gun. Her friend Rebecca had said she would give her a magnifying glass, and her wife always gave her cool stuff like the doily she gave her last year. Bernadette could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her towel. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the wasteland. She would have to wear a pair of earmuffs instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her ribbon.
She barrelled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like garlic. Her dad was standing there with a mixing spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a flinch.
"Hi Daddy!" Bernadette replied breathlessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hors d'oeuvre," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra hard-cooked eggs. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Bernadette replied hungrily. "Do we have the moo goo gai pan ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her father replied speedily. "It only has to sauté for sixty-six minutes."
"Okay," Bernadette replied languidly. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cotton candy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the living 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," Bernadette responded, as she sat down to her cotton candy. "Let's hang lots of grey balloons and cover the pool table and the stool with lavender crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father unabashedly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Harriet Nabokov. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dull knife."
"Alright," Bernadette responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a caress. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."