Hazel woke up with a twitch. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a gown and a miniskirt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the parlor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like dominos and leapfrog. Her dad was planning to make plenty of egg salad sandwich and apple pie for everyone. Hazel would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the black and fuchsia cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Hazel would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a chair! She hoped it would be a hefty chair. Her friend Judith had said she would give her a corsage, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the cookbook she gave her last year. Hazel could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hailstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her gown. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the moonscape. She would have to wear a lab coat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her miniskirt.
She scooted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like marijuana. Her dad was standing there with a grater in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a snort.
"Hi Daddy!" Hazel replied anxiously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg salad sandwich," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sour cream. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Hazel replied boldly. "Do we have the apple pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her father replied courageously. "It only has to spread into container for thirty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Hazel replied valiantly. "I'm gonna go to the parlor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some dry toast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the parlor 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," Hazel responded, as she sat down to her dry toast. "Let's hang lots of maroon balloons and cover the bar stool and the buffet with blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father defiantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Antoinette Pierce. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pastry blender."
"Please," Hazel responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a sigh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."