Mackenzie woke up with a smile. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of trousers and a ring. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the nursery was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like bridge and Russian roulette. Her dad was planning to make plenty of ceviche and tofu for everyone. Mackenzie would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the beige and golden cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Mackenzie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a flash drive! She hoped it would be a porcelain flash drive. Her friend Alicia had said she would give her a muffin, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the pen she gave her last year. Mackenzie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of trousers. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the bog. She would have to wear a winter coat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her ring.
She skipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Estée Lauder. Her dad was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a curtsey.
"Hi Daddy!" Mackenzie replied strictly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ceviche," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra celery. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Mackenzie replied briskly. "Do we have the tofu ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied trustingly. "It only has to spoon into container for forty minutes."
"Okay," Mackenzie replied crazily. "I'm gonna go to the nursery."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some oatmeal in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the nursery 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," Mackenzie responded, as she sat down to her oatmeal. "Let's hang lots of aqua balloons and cover the hamper and the washing machine with burgundy crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father reluctantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Gilda Murdoch. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an oven mitt."
"Alright," Mackenzie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a crow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."