Elizabeth woke up with a bow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a set of pink foam curlers and a Superman costume. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the ballroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like blackjack and roulette. Her dad was planning to make plenty of succotash and prune pudding for everyone. Elizabeth would try to blow out all ten candles on the pink and purple cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Elizabeth would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bullet! She hoped it would be a wet bullet. Her friend Samantha had said she would give her a toilet seat, and her main squeeze always gave her cool stuff like the muffin she gave her last year. Elizabeth could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her set of pink foam curlers. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the hayfield. She would have to wear a cheerleader's uniform instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her Superman costume.
She flounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like jasmine. Her dad was standing there with a melon baller in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a backward glance.
"Hi Daddy!" Elizabeth replied majestically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the succotash," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra ketchup. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Elizabeth replied swiftly. "Do we have the prune pudding ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her father replied elatedly. "It only has to marinate for forty-four minutes."
"Okay," Elizabeth replied noisily. "I'm gonna go to the ballroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some burritos in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the ballroom 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," Elizabeth responded, as she sat down to her burritos. "Let's hang lots of black balloons and cover the china cabinet and the TV with forest green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father viciously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Victoria Kong. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a turkey baster."
"Wild," Elizabeth 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."