Hillary woke up with a finger gun. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a necktie and a pair of combat boots. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like charades and Candy Land. Her dad was planning to make plenty of duck a l'orange and pot roast for everyone. Hillary would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the maroon and brilliant orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Hillary would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an antenna! She hoped it would be a bizarre antenna. Her friend Irma had said she would give her a primrose, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the pacifier she gave her last year. Hillary could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her necktie. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the steppe. She would have to wear a pair of heels instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of combat boots.
She swaggered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like lemons. Her dad was standing there with a potato masher in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a gasp.
"Hi Daddy!" Hillary replied intensely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the duck a l'orange," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra green bell peppers. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Hillary replied grudgingly. "Do we have the pot roast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her father replied confidently. "It only has to sear for seventy-nine minutes."
"Okay," Hillary replied stupidly. "I'm gonna go to the porch."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some egg drop soup in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the porch 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," Hillary responded, as she sat down to her egg drop soup. "Let's hang lots of black balloons and cover the bench and the wardrobe with khaki crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father neatly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Elaine Kringle. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a blender."
"Ooh," Hillary responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a honk. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."