Midge woke up with a sigh. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a fedora and a few decrepit rags. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the guest room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Rummy and croquet. Her dad was planning to make plenty of lasagna and tacos for everyone. Midge would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the black and maroon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Midge would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a teapot! She hoped it would be an odd teapot. Her friend Kristen had said she would give her a hot potato, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the clipboard she gave her last year. Midge could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a gale was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her fedora. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the backyard. She would have to wear a pair of pajamas instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her few decrepit rags.
She sidled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like ammonia. Her dad was standing there with a ladle in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a furrowed brow.
"Hi Daddy!" Midge replied slowly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lasagna," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra whipping cream. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Midge replied narrowly. "Do we have the tacos ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her father replied again. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for eighty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Midge replied sharply. "I'm gonna go to the guest room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some oyster on the half-shell in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the guest 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," Midge responded, as she sat down to her oyster on the half-shell. "Let's hang lots of chocolate brown balloons and cover the billiard table and the ottoman with crimson crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father viciously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Jody Scoville. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a slotted spoon."
"Shoot," Midge responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a jeer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."