Bubbles woke up with a wink. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of earrings and a burqa. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the master bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Cootie and blackjack. Her dad was planning to make plenty of cherries jubilee and brownies for everyone. Bubbles would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the white and silver cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Bubbles would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a beach ball! She hoped it would be a flexible beach ball. Her friend Emmeline had said she would give her a Helmholz resonator, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the pacifier she gave her last year. Bubbles could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of earrings. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the dumpster. She would have to wear a pair of galoshes instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her burqa.
She ran downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Lancôme. Her dad was standing there with a pair of chopsticks in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a snort.
"Hi Daddy!" Bubbles replied clumsily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cherries jubilee," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra carrots. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Bubbles replied frantically. "Do we have the brownies ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied ignobly. "It only has to bake at 450 degrees F for seventeen minutes."
"Okay," Bubbles replied shyly. "I'm gonna go to the master bathroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pumpkin pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the master bathroom 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," Bubbles responded, as she sat down to her pumpkin pie. "Let's hang lots of periwinkle balloons and cover the TV and the washstand with carrot-orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father cleverly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Huong André. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spatula."
"Fiddlesticks," Bubbles responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."