Bonita woke up with a smack. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a big grin and a pair of panties. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the servant's quarters was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Scrabble and trivia. Her dad was planning to make plenty of oyster on the half-shell and pretzels for everyone. Bonita would try to blow out all four candles on the striped and metallic red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Bonita would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a coat hanger! She hoped it would be a narrow coat hanger. Her friend Gillian had said she would give her a bowl, and her grandmother always gave her cool stuff like the coconut she gave her last year. Bonita could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a snowstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her big grin. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the treetop. She would have to wear a moustache instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of panties.
She marched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Estée Lauder. Her dad was standing there with a bare foot in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a finger gun.
"Hi Daddy!" Bonita replied sternly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the oyster on the half-shell," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra Cheerios. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Bonita replied merrily. "Do we have the pretzels ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her father replied silently. "It only has to press for twenty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Bonita replied nervously. "I'm gonna go to the servant's quarters."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pizza in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the servant's quarters 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," Bonita responded, as she sat down to her pizza. "Let's hang lots of ivory balloons and cover the billiard table and the armoire with terra cotta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father vigorously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Mandy Gray. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an egg cutter."
"Shazam," Bonita 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."