Elliott woke up with a giggle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a ponytail and a set of scrubs. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the outhouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like croquet and cribbage. Her dad was planning to make plenty of refried beans and bread and butter for everyone. Elliott would try to blow out all seven candles on the navy blue and jet black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Elliott would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a spider! She hoped it would be a damp spider. Her friend Mia had said she would give her a Kindle, and her grandpa always gave her cool stuff like the hacksaw she gave her last year. Elliott could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her ponytail. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the hillside. She would have to wear a corsage instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her set of scrubs.
She flounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like chicken soup. Her dad was standing there with a ladle in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a cheer.
"Hi Daddy!" Elliott replied shyly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the refried beans," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra blue cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Elliott replied fearlessly. "Do we have the bread and butter ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her father replied clumsily. "It only has to heat in microwave for forty minutes."
"Okay," Elliott replied woefully. "I'm gonna go to the outhouse."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some biscuits and gravy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the outhouse 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," Elliott responded, as she sat down to her biscuits and gravy. "Let's hang lots of khaki balloons and cover the armoire and the pillow with olive green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father irritably. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Wanda Shaw. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a chopstick."
"Unreal," Elliott responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a grin. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."