Olga woke up with a finger gun. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a heavy layer of makeup and an overcoat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the basement was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited one of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like cribbage and Cootie. Her dad was planning to make plenty of pizza and fondue for everyone. Olga would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the yellow and rose cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Olga would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a muffin! She hoped it would be an autographed muffin. Her friend Bernadette had said she would give her a skull, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the urn she gave her last year. Olga could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her heavy layer of makeup. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the pond. She would have to wear a set of scrubs instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her overcoat.
She hobbled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like popcorn. Her dad was standing there with a dish cloth in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a simper.
"Hi Daddy!" Olga replied mysteriously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pizza," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pinto beans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Olga replied properly. "Do we have the fondue ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her father replied lazily. "It only has to broil for eighty-four minutes."
"Okay," Olga replied temperamentally. "I'm gonna go to the basement."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some egg salad sandwich in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the basement 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," Olga responded, as she sat down to her egg salad sandwich. "Let's hang lots of brilliant orange balloons and cover the dresser and the settee with teal crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father wildly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Izzy Kennedy. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a basting brush."
"Holy mackerel," Olga responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a bow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."