Stephanie 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 gunny sack and a moustache. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the atrium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like badminton and hearts. Her dad was planning to make plenty of sauerkraut and pie a la mode for everyone. Stephanie would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the fuchsia and burgundy cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Stephanie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pack of gum! She hoped it would be a damaged pack of gum. Her friend Angie had said she would give her a rock, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the pinwheel she gave her last year. Stephanie 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 gunny sack. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the hayfield. She would have to wear a pair of heels instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her moustache.
She hopped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like smoked fish. Her dad was standing there with a cookie cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a honk.
"Hi Daddy!" Stephanie replied properly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the sauerkraut," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra oat bran. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Stephanie replied elatedly. "Do we have the pie a la mode ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her father replied dreamily. "It only has to fry for thirty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Stephanie replied humbly. "I'm gonna go to the atrium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chopped liver in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the atrium 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," Stephanie responded, as she sat down to her chopped liver. "Let's hang lots of pea green balloons and cover the futon and the rocking chair with lime-green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father unexpectedly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Jessica Kim. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a slotted spoon."
"For Pete's sake," Stephanie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a blush. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."