Victoria woke up with a chuckle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of overalls and a birthday suit. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like hide and seek and charades. Her dad was planning to make plenty of roast beef and tacos for everyone. Victoria would try to blow out all four candles on the maroon and rose cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Victoria would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a business card! She hoped it would be a luxurious business card. Her friend Tammy had said she would give her a telephone, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the pearl she gave her last year. Victoria 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 overalls. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the pasture. She would have to wear a toupee instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her birthday suit.
She ambled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like ammonia. Her dad was standing there with a knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a grin.
"Hi Daddy!" Victoria replied greedily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast beef," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra Canadian bacon. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Victoria replied boldly. "Do we have the tacos ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied sharply. "It only has to simmer for three minutes."
"Okay," Victoria replied gleefully. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some sauerkraut 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," Victoria responded, as she sat down to her sauerkraut. "Let's hang lots of grey balloons and cover the crib and the bookcase with periwinkle crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father irritably. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Eppie Mittal. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an egg cutter."
"Kazow," Victoria responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a raised eyebrow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."