Annabelle woke up with a yawn. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a gorilla suit and a badge. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like Snakes and Ladders and charades. Her dad was planning to make plenty of bread and butter and ceviche for everyone. Annabelle would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the rose and rose cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Annabelle would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an abacus! She hoped it would be a bizarre abacus. Her friend Phyllis had said she would give her a crayon, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the Bunsen burner she gave her last year. Annabelle could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a lightning storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her gorilla suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the steppe. She would have to wear an apron instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her badge.
She sidled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like toothpaste. Her dad was standing there with a chopstick in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a gasp.
"Hi Daddy!" Annabelle replied craftily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the bread and butter," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra chopped green pepper. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Annabelle replied nimbly. "Do we have the ceviche ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her father replied sternly. "It only has to spoon into container for forty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Annabelle replied sternly. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some falafel in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the linen closet 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," Annabelle responded, as she sat down to her falafel. "Let's hang lots of emerald green balloons and cover the bunk bed and the bathtub with carrot-orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father fearlessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Lindsey Flores. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a paring knife."
"Hold your horses," Annabelle responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a flutter. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."