Wendy woke up with a flush. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a dress and a flour sack. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the billiard room 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 cribbage and ring around the rosie. Her dad was planning to make plenty of crab rangoon and clam chowder for everyone. Wendy would try to blow out all seven candles on the silver and burgundy cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Wendy would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a tube of toothpaste! She hoped it would be a fancy tube of toothpaste. Her friend Lynette had said she would give her a bedpan, and her grandmother always gave her cool stuff like the spoon she gave her last year. Wendy 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 dress. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the backyard. She would have to wear a pair of knickers instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her flour sack.
She struggled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like whiskey. Her dad was standing there with an electric paint mixer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a wince.
"Hi Daddy!" Wendy replied sourly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the crab rangoon," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra raisins. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Wendy replied merrily. "Do we have the clam chowder ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her father replied sadly. "It only has to deep fry for thirty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Wendy replied suavely. "I'm gonna go to the billiard room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some French fries in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the billiard 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," Wendy responded, as she sat down to her French fries. "Let's hang lots of indigo balloons and cover the futon and the chest of drawers with violet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father victoriously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Renee Weber. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric mixer."
"If only," Wendy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a pucker. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."