Bretta woke up with a jeer. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a corset and a sweatshirt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the tool shed was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like treasure hunt and crazy eights. Her dad was planning to make plenty of oyster on the half-shell and popcorn for everyone. Bretta would try to blow out all thirty candles on the yellow and burgundy cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Bretta would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a microphone! She hoped it would be an ornate microphone. Her friend Gertrude had said she would give her an Egyptian mummy, and her wife always gave her cool stuff like the feather she gave her last year. Bretta could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her corset. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the landfill. She would have to wear a dog collar instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her sweatshirt.
She blundered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like baking cookies. Her dad was standing there with a chopstick in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a bow.
"Hi Daddy!" Bretta replied pityingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the oyster on the half-shell," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cheddar cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Bretta replied queerly. "Do we have the popcorn ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her father replied fiercely. "It only has to blend for fifty-one minutes."
"Okay," Bretta replied strictly. "I'm gonna go to the tool shed."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some bonbons in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the tool shed 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," Bretta responded, as she sat down to her bonbons. "Let's hang lots of periwinkle balloons and cover the china cabinet and the bookshelf with crimson crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father sweetly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Dinah Xing. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a blender."
"Meow," Bretta responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a sneer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."