Lauren woke up with a wag of the finger. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a cape and a wedding dress. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the dining room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like baseball and cribbage. Her dad was planning to make plenty of bread and butter and lobster bisque for everyone. Lauren would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the lavender and chartreuse cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lauren would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a protest sign! She hoped it would be a rusty protest sign. Her friend Dusty had said she would give her a blanket, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the flyswatter she gave her last year. Lauren could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a tornado was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her cape. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the lakeside. She would have to wear a bridal gown instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her wedding dress.
She hopped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rotten eggs. Her dad was standing there with a garlic press in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a wince.
"Hi Daddy!" Lauren replied diligently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the bread and butter," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sugar. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lauren replied quickly. "Do we have the lobster bisque ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied coolly. "It only has to slow cook for eighty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Lauren replied suddenly. "I'm gonna go to the dining room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some waffles in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dining 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," Lauren responded, as she sat down to her waffles. "Let's hang lots of camouflage balloons and cover the hamper and the beanbag chair with scarlet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father fearfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Shannon Brandon. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato masher."
"Shiver me timbers," Lauren responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snarl. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."