Gloria woke up with a chortle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a skirt and a pair of Oxfords. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the den was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like red light green light and ring around the rosie. Her dad was planning to make plenty of spaghetti and beef bouillon for everyone. Gloria would try to blow out all eleven candles on the orange and blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Gloria would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pencil! She hoped it would be a weird pencil. Her friend Bobbie had said she would give her an ironing board, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the billfold she gave her last year. Gloria 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 skirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the wasteland. She would have to wear a feather boa instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of Oxfords.
She skidded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cloves. Her dad was standing there with a pastry blender in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a kiss.
"Hi Daddy!" Gloria replied glumly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the spaghetti," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra Brussels sprouts. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Gloria replied cautiously. "Do we have the beef bouillon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied menacingly. "It only has to sauté for eleven minutes."
"Okay," Gloria replied thoughtfully. "I'm gonna go to the den."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ham in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the den 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," Gloria responded, as she sat down to her ham. "Let's hang lots of golden balloons and cover the workbench and the computer with beige crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father coolly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Clarisa Del Genio. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat tenderizer."
"Hot dog," Gloria responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a shiver. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."