Bella woke up with a giggle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a babushka and a flour sack. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Clue and marbles. Her dad was planning to make plenty of jambalaya and cornbread for everyone. Bella would try to blow out all twelve candles on the aqua and pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Bella would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bell! She hoped it would be a heavy bell. Her friend Francene had said she would give her a business card, and her friend always gave her cool stuff like the wrench she gave her last year. Bella could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a thunderstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her babushka. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the desert. She would have to wear a maxi skirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her flour sack.
She leapt downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like peanuts. Her dad was standing there with a ladle in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a flush.
"Hi Daddy!" Bella replied patiently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the jambalaya," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra applesauce. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Bella replied irritably. "Do we have the cornbread ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her father replied valiantly. "It only has to mix urgently for eighty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Bella replied smoothly. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some beef bouillon in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the bathroom 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," Bella responded, as she sat down to her beef bouillon. "Let's hang lots of navy blue balloons and cover the pool table and the nightstand with scarlet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father valiantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Keiko Nurbabayev. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Remarkable," Bella responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a clenched fist. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."