Claudia woke up with a curtsey. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a miniskirt and a bowler hat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like marbles and treasure hunt. Her dad was planning to make plenty of cabbage rolls and cornbread for everyone. Claudia would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the amber and pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Claudia would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a crystal ball! She hoped it would be a hefty crystal ball. Her friend Meghan had said she would give her a pom-pom, and her grandpa always gave her cool stuff like the pair of pliers she gave her last year. Claudia could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her miniskirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the dumpster. She would have to wear a badge instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bowler hat.
She rushed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like anise. Her dad was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a face palm.
"Hi Daddy!" Claudia replied gingerly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cabbage rolls," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra anchovy. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Claudia replied rapidly. "Do we have the cornbread ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her father replied tenderly. "It only has to steam for twenty-three minutes."
"Okay," Claudia replied softly. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some banana split 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," Claudia responded, as she sat down to her banana split. "Let's hang lots of carrot-orange balloons and cover the bed and the counter with jade crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father defiantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Regina Withers. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato masher."
"Easy peasy," Claudia responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a cheer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."