Madeline woke up with a hoot. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a jacket and an armband. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the library was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like badminton and treasure hunt. Her dad was planning to make plenty of Swiss cheese and jambalaya for everyone. Madeline would try to blow out all twelve candles on the tan and terra cotta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Madeline would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an antenna! She hoped it would be a worn antenna. Her friend Joni had said she would give her a cane, and her wife always gave her cool stuff like the iPhone she gave her last year. Madeline could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her jacket. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the stream. She would have to wear a pair of flip-flops instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her armband.
She tiptoed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cigarettes. Her dad was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a snort.
"Hi Daddy!" Madeline replied stealthily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Swiss cheese," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra molasses. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Madeline replied irritably. "Do we have the jambalaya ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her father replied gently. "It only has to toast for forty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Madeline replied gracefully. "I'm gonna go to the library."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some dirty rice 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," Madeline responded, as she sat down to her dirty rice. "Let's hang lots of sea green balloons and cover the display case and the overstuffed chair with forest green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father trustingly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Christina Flake. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a bare foot."
"Tubular," Madeline 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."