Sissy woke up with a bow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a uniform and a cowboy hat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the master bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like trivia and Russian roulette. Her dad was planning to make plenty of prune pudding and omelet for everyone. Sissy would try to blow out all two candles on the camouflage and carrot-orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Sissy would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hair dryer! She hoped it would be a stiff hair dryer. Her friend Hagit had said she would give her a can of sardines, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the can of shaving cream she gave her last year. Sissy could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her uniform. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the swamp. She would have to wear a blanket instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cowboy hat.
She swung downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like hot cocoa. Her dad was standing there with a fork in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a guffaw.
"Hi Daddy!" Sissy replied frenetically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the prune pudding," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra olive oil. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Sissy replied cruelly. "Do we have the omelet ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her father replied bravely. "It only has to sauté for forty minutes."
"Okay," Sissy replied frantically. "I'm gonna go to the master bedroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some mulligan stew in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the master bedroom 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," Sissy responded, as she sat down to her mulligan stew. "Let's hang lots of maroon balloons and cover the computer and the safe with magenta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father patiently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Denise Nakamura. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a slotted spoon."
"Crap," Sissy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a clenched fist. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."