Petunia woke up with a pound of the chest. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a denim skirt and a wristwatch. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the outhouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like Monopoly and Rummy. Her dad was planning to make plenty of sushi and fish and chips for everyone. Petunia would try to blow out all eleven candles on the silver and scarlet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Petunia would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a spider! She hoped it would be a crooked spider. Her friend Alberta had said she would give her a joint, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the Kindle she gave her last year. Petunia could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her denim skirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the valley. She would have to wear a pair of khakis instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her wristwatch.
She danced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like formaldehyde. Her dad was standing there with a cookie cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a grimace.
"Hi Daddy!" Petunia replied positively. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the sushi," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra heavy cream. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Petunia replied truculently. "Do we have the fish and chips ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her father replied unexpectedly. "It only has to deep fry for two minutes."
"Okay," Petunia replied lickety-split. "I'm gonna go to the outhouse."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fried okra in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the outhouse 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," Petunia responded, as she sat down to her fried okra. "Let's hang lots of emerald green balloons and cover the bar stool and the ironing board with jade crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father daringly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Kylie Cheng. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an egg cutter."
"Ka-ching," Petunia responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a smile. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."