Sheila woke up with a grin. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a belt buckle and a tunic. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the auditorium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like dodge ball and Candy Land. Her dad was planning to make plenty of squash blossom soup and succotash for everyone. Sheila would try to blow out all twenty-four candles on the yellow and silver cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Sheila would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a barbell! She hoped it would be a crisp barbell. Her friend Erica had said she would give her a coffee pot, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the dictionary she gave her last year. Sheila could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her belt buckle. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the veld. She would have to wear a set of scrubs instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her tunic.
She sailed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a wet dog. Her dad was standing there with a mixing spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a finger gun.
"Hi Daddy!" Sheila replied gracefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the squash blossom soup," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pimientos. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Sheila replied proudly. "Do we have the succotash ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied gruffly. "It only has to boil for forty-one minutes."
"Okay," Sheila replied nonchalantly. "I'm gonna go to the auditorium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lobster 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," Sheila responded, as she sat down to her lobster. "Let's hang lots of crimson balloons and cover the computer and the cash register with aquamarine crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father sympathetically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Alissa Walton. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"Tubular," Sheila 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."