Cindy woke up with a smirk. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in an apron and a sweater. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like badminton and rummy. Her dad was planning to make plenty of smoked salmon and fish and chips for everyone. Cindy would try to blow out all twenty-seven candles on the beige and chartreuse cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Cindy would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a billfold! She hoped it would be a flaky billfold. Her friend Mabel had said she would give her a Frisbee, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the dart she gave her last year. Cindy could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her apron. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the steppe. She would have to wear a pair of suspenders instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her sweater.
She hopped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like maple syrup. Her dad was standing there with a foot in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a gurgle.
"Hi Daddy!" Cindy replied rapidly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the smoked salmon," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra asparagus. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Cindy replied courteously. "Do we have the fish and chips ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied fondly. "It only has to fry mysteriously in grubby skillet for forty-two minutes."
"Okay," Cindy replied obediently. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some duck a l'orange in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the 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," Cindy responded, as she sat down to her duck a l'orange. "Let's hang lots of hot pink balloons and cover the mattress and the filing cabinet with violet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father carelessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Fiona Soto. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dish cloth."
"Out of this world," Cindy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a grimace. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."