Madalyn woke up with a tear. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a leotard and a pair of trousers. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boiler room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like battleship and follow the leader. Her dad was planning to make plenty of pancakes and egg salad sandwich for everyone. Madalyn would try to blow out all twelve candles on the salmon and hot pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Madalyn would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an acorn! She hoped it would be a waxy acorn. Her friend Brittany had said she would give her a skull, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the mushroom she gave her last year. Madalyn could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her leotard. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the range. She would have to wear a parka instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of trousers.
She sped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a wet dog. Her dad was standing there with an electric mixer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a growl.
"Hi Daddy!" Madalyn replied happily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pancakes," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra Dijon mustard. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Madalyn replied furiously. "Do we have the egg salad sandwich ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her father replied elatedly. "It only has to bake at 450 degrees F for four minutes."
"Okay," Madalyn replied boldly. "I'm gonna go to the boiler room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some burritos in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boiler 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," Madalyn responded, as she sat down to her burritos. "Let's hang lots of forest green balloons and cover the casket and the bookshelf with purple crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father hysterically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Sophie Sanchez. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of chopsticks."
"Holy cow," Madalyn responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a shout. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."