Cherise woke up with a crow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of tights and a ponytail. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the dining room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like billiards and musical chairs. Her dad was planning to make plenty of corn on the cob and cabbage for everyone. Cherise would try to blow out all eight candles on the silver and fuchsia cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Cherise would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a clipboard! She hoped it would be a ruined clipboard. Her friend Liz had said she would give her an oriental vase, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the pencil sharpener she gave her last year. Cherise could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of tights. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the plain. She would have to wear a cocktail dress instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her ponytail.
She breezed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Calvin Klein. Her dad was standing there with a sharp knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a beam.
"Hi Daddy!" Cherise replied delicately. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the corn on the cob," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra Italian seasoning. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Cherise replied urgently. "Do we have the cabbage ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her father replied bitterly. "It only has to place on serving dish for seventy-seven minutes."
"Okay," Cherise replied queerly. "I'm gonna go to the dining room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some wienerschnitzel in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dining 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," Cherise responded, as she sat down to her wienerschnitzel. "Let's hang lots of grey balloons and cover the bookcase and the recliner with teal crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father sarcastically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Abigail Hayward. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a grater."
"Bah," Cherise responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a shrug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."