Susanna woke up with a flinch. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a mortarboard and a big grin. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the foyer was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like tag and Simon Says. Her dad was planning to make plenty of blueberry pie and shrimp for everyone. Susanna would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the chocolate brown and rose cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Susanna would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an accordion! She hoped it would be a worn accordion. Her friend Candy had said she would give her a dog biscuit, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the stone she gave her last year. Susanna could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a lightning storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her mortarboard. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the prairie. She would have to wear a toupee instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her big grin.
She zipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pipe tobacco. Her dad was standing there with a garlic press in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a laugh.
"Hi Daddy!" Susanna replied roughly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the blueberry pie," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra graham crackers. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Susanna replied unexpectedly. "Do we have the shrimp ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her father replied kindly. "It only has to marinate for twenty-three minutes."
"Okay," Susanna replied uneasily. "I'm gonna go to the foyer."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some duck a l'orange in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the foyer 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," Susanna responded, as she sat down to her duck a l'orange. "Let's hang lots of crimson balloons and cover the coat rack and the bathtub with white crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father smoothly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Rosa Zedong. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a grater."
"Marvelous," Susanna responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a backward glance. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."