Savannah woke up with a snuffle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a coat and a thong. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boiler room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like Clue and Parcheesi. Her dad was planning to make plenty of hors d'oeuvre and cornbread for everyone. Savannah would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the rose and white cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Savannah would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a chain! She hoped it would be a greasy chain. Her friend Virginia had said she would give her a cracker, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the remote control she gave her last year. Savannah could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the lakeside. She would have to wear a black armband instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her thong.
She inched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like potpourri. Her dad was standing there with a food processor in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a grin.
"Hi Daddy!" Savannah replied fervently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hors d'oeuvre," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra wine vinegar. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Savannah replied proudly. "Do we have the cornbread ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her father replied strangely. "It only has to poach lightly for eleven minutes."
"Okay," Savannah replied hungrily. "I'm gonna go to the boiler room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cornbread in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boiler 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," Savannah responded, as she sat down to her cornbread. "Let's hang lots of silver balloons and cover the stool and the hammock with aquamarine crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father unabashedly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Sophie Cheng. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a basting brush."
"Hey," Savannah responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a titter. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."