Susanna woke up with a wink. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of booties and a beret. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the ballroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like solitaire and Parcheesi. Her dad was planning to make plenty of roast turkey and strawberry shortcake for everyone. Susanna would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the forest green and green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Susanna would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a notepad! She hoped it would be a funny notepad. Her friend Celeste had said she would give her a rain coat, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the crayon she gave her last year. Susanna could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sandstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of booties. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the path. She would have to wear a scarf instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her beret.
She darted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like mushrooms. Her dad was standing there with a melon baller in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a jeer.
"Hi Daddy!" Susanna replied delicately. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast turkey," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra grated sharp cheddar cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Susanna replied grudgingly. "Do we have the strawberry shortcake ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her father replied threateningly. "It only has to roast for thirty-one minutes."
"Okay," Susanna replied busily. "I'm gonna go to the ballroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some dirty rice in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the ballroom 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 dirty rice. "Let's hang lots of fuchsia balloons and cover the display case and the bed with carrot-orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father queerly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Lorna Dubois. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a foot."
"Gadzooks," Susanna responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a wince. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."