Violet woke up with a wink. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a raincoat and a sarong. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the basement was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like roulette and musical chairs. Her dad was planning to make plenty of fried okra and tofu for everyone. Violet would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the ivory and red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Violet would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a tennis racket! She hoped it would be an original tennis racket. Her friend Bianca had said she would give her a clarinet, and her aunt always gave her cool stuff like the bagpipe she gave her last year. Violet could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pall of doom was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her raincoat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the wasteland. She would have to wear a feather boa instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her sarong.
She straggled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Calvin Klein. Her dad was standing there with a dull knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a sniff.
"Hi Daddy!" Violet replied zestily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fried okra," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pork chops. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Violet replied perkily. "Do we have the tofu ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied cheerfully. "It only has to smoke for eighty-six minutes."
"Okay," Violet replied nicely. "I'm gonna go to the basement."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some apple pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the basement 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," Violet responded, as she sat down to her apple pie. "Let's hang lots of lime-green balloons and cover the settee and the ping-pong table with purple crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father hungrily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Pam Fink. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a turkey baster."
"Shoo," Violet responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a smirk. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."