Michaela woke up with a bound. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a headband and a sport coat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the dungeon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like cribbage and volleyball. Her dad was planning to make plenty of egg salad sandwich and lime sherbet for everyone. Michaela would try to blow out all five candles on the jet black and sea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Michaela would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bicycle! She hoped it would be a spongy bicycle. Her friend Susie had said she would give her a fossil, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the flashlight she gave her last year. Michaela could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her headband. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the seacoast. She would have to wear a hat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her sport coat.
She sailed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like vinegar. Her dad was standing there with a napkin in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a clenched fist.
"Hi Daddy!" Michaela replied furiously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg salad sandwich," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra kidney beans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Michaela replied grudgingly. "Do we have the lime sherbet ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her father replied stealthily. "It only has to sear for six minutes."
"Okay," Michaela replied noisily. "I'm gonna go to the dungeon."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ramen noodles in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dungeon 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," Michaela responded, as she sat down to her ramen noodles. "Let's hang lots of lime-green balloons and cover the file cabinet and the stairway with lavender crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father bitterly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Lucille Hoffa. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dull knife."
"Huh," Michaela responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with an evil eye. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."