Jacqueline woke up with a sniff. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a diaper and a mask. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the corridor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like Scrabble and Scrabble. Her dad was planning to make plenty of chicken chow mein and roast turkey for everyone. Jacqueline would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the crimson and chartreuse cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jacqueline would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a candy bar! She hoped it would be an amazing candy bar. Her friend Toni had said she would give her a candy bar, and her aunt always gave her cool stuff like the chair she gave her last year. Jacqueline could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a lightning storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her diaper. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the trail. She would have to wear a necktie instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her mask.
She skittered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like freshly cut grass. Her dad was standing there with a corkscrew in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a titter.
"Hi Daddy!" Jacqueline replied slyly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken chow mein," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra red cabbage. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jacqueline replied haughtily. "Do we have the roast turkey ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her father replied timidly. "It only has to whirl for eleven minutes."
"Okay," Jacqueline replied roughly. "I'm gonna go to the corridor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some shrimp in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the corridor 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," Jacqueline responded, as she sat down to her shrimp. "Let's hang lots of metallic red balloons and cover the washstand and the nightstand with silver crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father ruefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Meg Bushnell. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Holy buckets," Jacqueline 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."