Charlotte 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 flak jacket and a black belt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the patio was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like charades and tennis. Her dad was planning to make plenty of mulligan stew and roast Cornish game hen for everyone. Charlotte would try to blow out all twelve candles on the red and brilliant orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Charlotte would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a wrench! She hoped it would be a valuable wrench. Her friend Godiva had said she would give her a hair brush, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the camera she gave her last year. Charlotte 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 flak jacket. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the gulch. She would have to wear a diamond bracelet instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her black belt.
She waddled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like grapefruit. Her dad was standing there with a fork in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a finger gun.
"Hi Daddy!" Charlotte replied slyly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mulligan stew," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra garlic. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Charlotte replied tensely. "Do we have the roast Cornish game hen ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her father replied shakily. "It only has to fry crankily in automatic skillet for sixty-five minutes."
"Okay," Charlotte replied effortlessly. "I'm gonna go to the patio."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some prime rib in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the patio 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," Charlotte responded, as she sat down to her prime rib. "Let's hang lots of silver balloons and cover the dishwasher and the bed with lavender crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father curiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Julie Sekora. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a whisk."
"Rooster feathers," Charlotte responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a jeer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."