Bonnie woke up with a sneeze. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of sandals and a uniform. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like tennis and badminton. Her dad was planning to make plenty of oatmeal and pecan pie for everyone. Bonnie would try to blow out all five candles on the jade and purple cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Bonnie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pair of pliers! She hoped it would be a rough pair of pliers. Her friend Frances had said she would give her a twig, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the watering can she gave her last year. Bonnie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of sandals. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the badlands area. She would have to wear a flak jacket instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her uniform.
She crept downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a pot of stew. Her dad was standing there with an oven mitt in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a wag of the finger.
"Hi Daddy!" Bonnie replied lickety-split. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the oatmeal," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh basil. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Bonnie replied sourly. "Do we have the pecan pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her father replied grudgingly. "It only has to grill for fifty-four minutes."
"Okay," Bonnie replied cruelly. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some macaroni in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the linen closet 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," Bonnie responded, as she sat down to her macaroni. "Let's hang lots of turquoise balloons and cover the file cabinet and the hamper with grey crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father unexpectedly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Evelyn Marx. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat thermometer."
"Gosh darn," Bonnie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a flush. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."