Laura woke up with a stiff upper lip. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a wet suit and a miniskirt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the library was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like Mother May I and golf. Her dad was planning to make plenty of macaroni and fried eggs for everyone. Laura would try to blow out all eleven candles on the khaki and chartreuse cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Laura would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a vacuum cleaner! She hoped it would be a disgusting vacuum cleaner. Her friend Coleen had said she would give her a brush, and her dad always gave her cool stuff like the teapot she gave her last year. Laura could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her wet suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the forest. She would have to wear a nose ring instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her miniskirt.
She pranced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like an old goat. Her dad was standing there with a cookie cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a giggle.
"Hi Daddy!" Laura replied positively. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the macaroni," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra eggs. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Laura replied truculently. "Do we have the fried eggs ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied majestically. "It only has to freeze for twenty-three minutes."
"Okay," Laura replied bravely. "I'm gonna go to the library."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cotton candy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the library 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," Laura responded, as she sat down to her cotton candy. "Let's hang lots of camouflage balloons and cover the safe and the couch with polka dotted crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father defiantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Ophelia Lewis. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pastry blender."
"Incredible," Laura responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a cheer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."