Holly woke up with a caress. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a poodle skirt and a sari. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the laundry room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited one of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Candy Land and blackjack. Her dad was planning to make plenty of apple pie and tortillas for everyone. Holly would try to blow out all thirty-five candles on the pea green and yellow cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Holly would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a brochure! She hoped it would be a bizarre brochure. Her friend Latrina had said she would give her a vase, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the bagpipe she gave her last year. Holly could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her poodle skirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the gully. She would have to wear a bowler hat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her sari.
She skittered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fingernail polish remover. Her dad was standing there with a slotted spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a simper.
"Hi Daddy!" Holly replied busily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the apple pie," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra tequila. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Holly replied tenderly. "Do we have the tortillas ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her father replied primly. "It only has to allow to rise in warm place for several hours for thirty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Holly replied hastily. "I'm gonna go to the laundry room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some macaroni and cheese in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the laundry 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," Holly responded, as she sat down to her macaroni and cheese. "Let's hang lots of polka dotted balloons and cover the china hutch and the bunk bed with amber crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father neatly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Jasmine Witherspoon. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"Scat," Holly responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a squint. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."