Annabelle woke up with a honk. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of heels and a sombrero. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like red light green light and Snakes and Ladders. Her dad was planning to make plenty of succotash and crab rangoon for everyone. Annabelle would try to blow out all twenty-six candles on the jet black and scarlet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Annabelle would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Hostess Ding Dong! She hoped it would be a nifty Hostess Ding Dong. Her friend Kylie had said she would give her a fishing pole, and her aunt always gave her cool stuff like the telephone book she gave her last year. Annabelle could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of heels. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the circus tent. She would have to wear a trench coat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her sombrero.
She scooted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Juicy Fruit gum. Her dad was standing there with an ice pick in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a power fist.
"Hi Daddy!" Annabelle replied swiftly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the succotash," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra dill weed. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Annabelle replied defiantly. "Do we have the crab rangoon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her father replied lightly. "It only has to boil for eight minutes."
"Okay," Annabelle replied roughly. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pretzels in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the living 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," Annabelle responded, as she sat down to her pretzels. "Let's hang lots of khaki balloons and cover the ironing board and the recliner with aqua crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father narrowly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Reba Sharpe. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a paring knife."
"Fiddlesticks," Annabelle responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a cackle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."