Magdalena woke up with a beam. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a badge and a military uniform. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like Russian roulette and crazy eights. Her dad was planning to make plenty of chicken gumbo and steak for everyone. Magdalena would try to blow out all eight candles on the jade and chocolate brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Magdalena would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a diamond! She hoped it would be a wooden diamond. Her friend Gina had said she would give her a yo-yo, and her sister always gave her cool stuff like the Kindle she gave her last year. Magdalena 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 badge. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the steppe. She would have to wear a pair of combat boots instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her military uniform.
She zoomed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like baked beans. Her dad was standing there with a chopstick in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a sniffle.
"Hi Daddy!" Magdalena replied peevishly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken gumbo," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra dill weed. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Magdalena replied slowly. "Do we have the steak ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her father replied charmingly. "It only has to smoke for fifty-one minutes."
"Okay," Magdalena replied flightily. "I'm gonna go to the closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pecan pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the closet 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," Magdalena responded, as she sat down to her pecan pie. "Let's hang lots of grey balloons and cover the bookcase and the hatstand with brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father numbly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Paige Rush. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spatula."
"Geez Louise," Magdalena responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a caress. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."