Geraldine woke up with a backward glance. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a poncho and a pair of tights. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the game room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like blackjack and Simon Says. Her dad was planning to make plenty of jambalaya and pecan pie for everyone. Geraldine would try to blow out all thirty candles on the grey and olive drab cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Geraldine would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fire hose! She hoped it would be an abnormal fire hose. Her friend Barb had said she would give her a smart phone, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the baseball she gave her last year. Geraldine could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her poncho. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the river. She would have to wear a Stetson hat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of tights.
She blundered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like garlic. Her dad was standing there with a meat tenderizer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a beam.
"Hi Daddy!" Geraldine replied recklessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the jambalaya," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra nutmeg. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Geraldine replied swiftly. "Do we have the pecan pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her father replied deliberately. "It only has to steam for fourteen minutes."
"Okay," Geraldine replied gruffly. "I'm gonna go to the game room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some egg drop soup in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the game 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," Geraldine responded, as she sat down to her egg drop soup. "Let's hang lots of salmon balloons and cover the wine rack and the coat rack with crimson crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father calmly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Hagit Spence. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a piece of cheesecloth."
"Fie," Geraldine responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a jeer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."