Tori woke up with a honk. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a cummerbund and a bracelet. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the cage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Rummy and jacks. Her dad was planning to make plenty of lobster bisque and moo goo gai pan for everyone. Tori would try to blow out all twenty-eight candles on the chartreuse and navy blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Tori would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a baton! She hoped it would be a dirty baton. Her friend Camille had said she would give her a teapot, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the bag of potato chips she gave her last year. Tori could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her cummerbund. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the mesa. She would have to wear a skirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bracelet.
She traipsed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a swimming pool. Her dad was standing there with a wooden spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a fist bump.
"Hi Daddy!" Tori replied pitifully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lobster bisque," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra kiwis. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Tori replied lickety-split. "Do we have the moo goo gai pan ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her father replied humbly. "It only has to blanch for twenty-six minutes."
"Okay," Tori replied truculently. "I'm gonna go to the cage."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some sweet potatoes in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the cage 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," Tori responded, as she sat down to her sweet potatoes. "Let's hang lots of magenta balloons and cover the crib and the floor with khaki crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father greedily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Latrina Childress. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a bare foot."
"OMG," Tori responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a woof. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."