Barb woke up with a grimace. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a belt and a lab coat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the master bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Monopoly and Cootie. Her dad was planning to make plenty of ham and Cheerios for everyone. Barb would try to blow out all twelve candles on the khaki and salmon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Barb would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a calling card! She hoped it would be a gooey calling card. Her friend Motormouth had said she would give her an arrowhead, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the coconut she gave her last year. Barb could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hailstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her belt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the seacoast. She would have to wear a ski mask instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her lab coat.
She ran downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like car exhaust. Her dad was standing there with a garlic press in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a bound.
"Hi Daddy!" Barb replied peevishly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ham," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra applesauce. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Barb replied reluctantly. "Do we have the Cheerios ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her father replied automatically. "It only has to blend for ninety minutes."
"Okay," Barb replied delicately. "I'm gonna go to the master bedroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some popcorn in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the master bedroom 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," Barb responded, as she sat down to her popcorn. "Let's hang lots of lavender balloons and cover the display case and the floor with sparkly crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father shakily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Latrina Quinn. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"Okay then," Barb responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a raspberry. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."