Delores 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 polo shirt and a belt buckle. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the kitchen was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like Scrabble and tag. Her dad was planning to make plenty of clam chowder and hors d'oeuvre for everyone. Delores would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the red and chartreuse cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Delores would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bedpan! She hoped it would be a handy bedpan. Her friend Queenie had said she would give her a rose, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the teapot she gave her last year. Delores could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her polo shirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the circus tent. She would have to wear a birthday suit instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her belt buckle.
She waded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like boiled cabbage. Her dad was standing there with a meat thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a crow.
"Hi Daddy!" Delores replied hopelessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the clam chowder," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra strawberries. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Delores replied tenderly. "Do we have the hors d'oeuvre ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her father replied energetically. "It only has to slow cook for forty-six minutes."
"Okay," Delores replied breathlessly. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cotton candy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the kitchen 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," Delores responded, as she sat down to her cotton candy. "Let's hang lots of jet black balloons and cover the futon and the hope chest with crimson crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father gingerly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Josephine Wykes. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat tenderizer."
"Uh-oh," Delores responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a raspberry. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."