Holly woke up with a bound. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a black armband and a heavy layer of makeup. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the auditorium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like checkers and tennis. Her dad was planning to make plenty of crab rangoon and succotash for everyone. Holly would try to blow out all eleven candles on the chartreuse and terra cotta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Holly would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a contract! She hoped it would be a magnificent contract. Her friend Carla had said she would give her a potato, and her friend always gave her cool stuff like the saw she gave her last year. Holly could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her black armband. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the oasis. She would have to wear a negligee instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her heavy layer of makeup.
She lumbered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like mint. Her dad was standing there with a chopstick in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a gasp.
"Hi Daddy!" Holly replied brashly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the crab rangoon," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra ground lamb. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Holly replied brightly. "Do we have the succotash ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her father replied ingeniously. "It only has to press for forty-four minutes."
"Okay," Holly replied doubtfully. "I'm gonna go to the auditorium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken pot pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the auditorium 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," Holly responded, as she sat down to her chicken pot pie. "Let's hang lots of aqua balloons and cover the pool table and the overstuffed chair with grey crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father busily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Penny Lewis. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pastry blender."
"Yummy," Holly responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a curtsey. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."