Andie woke up with a flutter. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a space suit and a pair of glasses. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the kitchen was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like battleship and treasure hunt. Her dad was planning to make plenty of catfish stew and fondue for everyone. Andie would try to blow out all eleven candles on the crimson and jet black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Andie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a stick! She hoped it would be a ridiculous stick. Her friend Liz had said she would give her a mirror, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the can of beer she gave her last year. Andie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dense fog was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her space suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the peninsula. She would have to wear a shawl instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of glasses.
She sashayed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like boiled cabbage. Her dad was standing there with an oven mitt in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a giggle.
"Hi Daddy!" Andie replied suspiciously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the catfish stew," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra bread crumbs. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Andie replied coldly. "Do we have the fondue ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her father replied suspiciously. "It only has to mix cautiously for twenty-three minutes."
"Okay," Andie replied craftily. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some beef bouillon in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the kitchen 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," Andie responded, as she sat down to her beef bouillon. "Let's hang lots of sparkly balloons and cover the pool table and the ironing board with lime-green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father awkwardly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Elena Moretti. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spatula."
"Fudge," Andie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a chuckle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."