Valerie woke up with a sneeze. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a wristwatch and a gown. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the cage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like checkers and croquet. Her dad was planning to make plenty of oatmeal and chicken gumbo for everyone. Valerie would try to blow out all seven candles on the hot pink and tan cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Valerie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a corncob! She hoped it would be a delicate corncob. Her friend Ava had said she would give her a box, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the candy bar she gave her last year. Valerie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her wristwatch. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the lagoon. She would have to wear a wedding dress instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her gown.
She bounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fresh coffee. Her dad was standing there with a strainer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a gurgle.
"Hi Daddy!" Valerie replied neatly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the oatmeal," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh peaches. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Valerie replied gently. "Do we have the chicken gumbo ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her father replied curiously. "It only has to heat in microwave for thirty-one minutes."
"Okay," Valerie replied angrily. "I'm gonna go to the cage."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast beef in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the cage 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," Valerie responded, as she sat down to her roast beef. "Let's hang lots of amber balloons and cover the chest of drawers and the floor with grey crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father reluctantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Jean Deutsch. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat thermometer."
"Great Scott," Valerie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a crow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."