Maybie woke up with a cringe. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a nose ring and a girdle. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the billiard room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like Monopoly and Russian roulette. Her dad was planning to make plenty of dry toast and biscuits and gravy for everyone. Maybie would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the peach and navy blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Maybie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a corsage! She hoped it would be a gruesome corsage. Her friend Pippa had said she would give her a pom-pom, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the elephant tusk she gave her last year. Maybie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her nose ring. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the butte. She would have to wear a pair of overalls instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her girdle.
She scampered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a Chinese restaurant. Her dad was standing there with a turkey baster in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a belly laugh.
"Hi Daddy!" Maybie replied joyously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the dry toast," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra extra virgin olive oil. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Maybie replied menacingly. "Do we have the biscuits and gravy ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her father replied deftly. "It only has to arrange for fifty-two minutes."
"Okay," Maybie replied angrily. "I'm gonna go to the billiard room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some moo goo gai pan in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the billiard room 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," Maybie responded, as she sat down to her moo goo gai pan. "Let's hang lots of teal balloons and cover the wine rack and the mattress with peach crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father nicely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Jody McKenzie. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cheesecloth."
"Wowsers," Maybie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a grunt. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."