Alberta woke up with a finger gun. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of tights and a stovepipe hat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the tool shed was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like treasure hunt and tennis. Her dad was planning to make plenty of lobster and hash for everyone. Alberta would try to blow out all twenty-six candles on the teal and indigo cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Alberta would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a microphone! She hoped it would be an art deco microphone. Her friend Shirley had said she would give her a hat, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the bag of ice she gave her last year. Alberta could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a gale was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of tights. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the pasture. She would have to wear a jerkin instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her stovepipe hat.
She scurried downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like biscuits. Her dad was standing there with an electric mixer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a backward glance.
"Hi Daddy!" Alberta replied narrowly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lobster," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra salt. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Alberta replied accidentally. "Do we have the hash ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her father replied lazily. "It only has to shake for seventy-four minutes."
"Okay," Alberta replied slyly. "I'm gonna go to the tool shed."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast Cornish game hen in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the tool shed 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," Alberta responded, as she sat down to her roast Cornish game hen. "Let's hang lots of khaki balloons and cover the carpet and the water bed with ivory crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father dolorously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Laura Mainz. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a ladle."
"Excuse me," Alberta 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."