Winnie woke up with a smirk. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a thong and a fig leaf. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the study was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like treasure hunt and Cootie. Her dad was planning to make plenty of chicken chow mein and fried chicken for everyone. Winnie would try to blow out all six candles on the periwinkle and pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Winnie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Helmholz resonator! She hoped it would be a stolen Helmholz resonator. Her friend Ginger had said she would give her a computer, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the remote control she gave her last year. Winnie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her thong. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the dumpster. She would have to wear a Superman costume instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her fig leaf.
She trekked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Christian Dior. Her dad was standing there with a candy thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a simper.
"Hi Daddy!" Winnie replied hysterically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken chow mein," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra Brussels sprouts. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Winnie replied peevishly. "Do we have the fried chicken ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her father replied demurely. "It only has to shake for sixteen minutes."
"Okay," Winnie replied frenetically. "I'm gonna go to the study."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cookies in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the study 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," Winnie responded, as she sat down to her cookies. "Let's hang lots of red balloons and cover the hatstand and the safe with lime-green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father zestily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Stacy Townley. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Eww," Winnie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a curtsey. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."