Mary 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 false beard and a bow tie. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the garage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-one of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like Clue and Russian roulette. Her dad was planning to make plenty of lime sherbet and tacos for everyone. Mary would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the olive green and fuchsia cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Mary would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a dish! She hoped it would be an aromatic dish. Her friend Molly had said she would give her a paintbrush, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the bone she gave her last year. Mary could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dense fog was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her false beard. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the wasteland. She would have to wear a body shirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bow tie.
She paraded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Lancôme. Her dad was standing there with a foot in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a sneeze.
"Hi Daddy!" Mary replied smoothly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lime sherbet," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra mayonnaise. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Mary replied victoriously. "Do we have the tacos ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her father replied briskly. "It only has to spread into container for fifty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Mary replied cautiously. "I'm gonna go to the garage."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cherries jubilee in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the garage 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," Mary responded, as she sat down to her cherries jubilee. "Let's hang lots of jet black balloons and cover the hammock and the four-poster bed with peach crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father nervously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Shawna Porter. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"Nope," Mary responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snigger. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."