Emma woke up with a raised eyebrow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a diamond necklace and a wizard's hat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the game room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like duck duck goose and battleship. Her dad was planning to make plenty of bread and butter and omelet for everyone. Emma would try to blow out all twenty-eight candles on the orange and tan cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Emma would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cardboard box! She hoped it would be a slimy cardboard box. Her friend Eppie had said she would give her a remote control, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the cactus plant she gave her last year. Emma could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blizzard was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her diamond necklace. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the jungle. She would have to wear a poodle skirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her wizard's hat.
She barrelled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like gardenias. Her dad was standing there with a paring knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a flutter.
"Hi Daddy!" Emma replied narrowly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the bread and butter," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra onion powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Emma replied courteously. "Do we have the omelet ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her father replied despondently. "It only has to boil for eighty-one minutes."
"Okay," Emma replied victoriously. "I'm gonna go to the game room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some egg drop soup in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the game room 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," Emma responded, as she sat down to her egg drop soup. "Let's hang lots of indigo balloons and cover the rug and the piano with fuchsia crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father openly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Olivia Douglas. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"Ay yi yi," Emma responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a roar. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."