Alisa woke up with a snarl. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a black belt and a pair of Oxfords. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the front porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like dominos and crazy eights. Her dad was planning to make plenty of bread and butter and squash blossom soup for everyone. Alisa would try to blow out all twenty-six candles on the beige and burgundy cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Alisa would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a peace pipe! She hoped it would be a mechanical peace pipe. Her friend Carrie had said she would give her a cigarette lighter, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the hockey puck she gave her last year. Alisa could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her black belt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the landfill. She would have to wear a turtleneck instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of Oxfords.
She inched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a mountain meadow. Her dad was standing there with an egg cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a blush.
"Hi Daddy!" Alisa replied sweetly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the bread and butter," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra Canadian bacon. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Alisa replied despondently. "Do we have the squash blossom soup ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied diligently. "It only has to arrange for seventy-seven minutes."
"Okay," Alisa replied fearfully. "I'm gonna go to the front porch."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some macaroni and cheese in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the front porch 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," Alisa responded, as she sat down to her macaroni and cheese. "Let's hang lots of magenta balloons and cover the bookshelf and the umbrella stand with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father blindly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Bobbie Quick. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cookie cutter."
"Son of a gun," Alisa responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a furrowed brow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."