Loreen woke up with a growl. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a baseball cap and a fedora. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the dungeon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like tennis and shuffleboard. Her dad was planning to make plenty of oatmeal and macaroni for everyone. Loreen would try to blow out all eight candles on the peach and camouflage cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Loreen would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pinwheel! She hoped it would be a hand-carved pinwheel. Her friend Midge had said she would give her an African violet, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the stapler she gave her last year. Loreen could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her baseball cap. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the bog. She would have to wear a denim skirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her fedora.
She reeled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a beauty salon. Her dad was standing there with a strainer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a smack.
"Hi Daddy!" Loreen replied daintily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the oatmeal," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sauerkraut. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Loreen replied defiantly. "Do we have the macaroni ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her father replied boldly. "It only has to toast for eighteen minutes."
"Okay," Loreen replied bitterly. "I'm gonna go to the dungeon."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some biscuits and gravy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dungeon 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," Loreen responded, as she sat down to her biscuits and gravy. "Let's hang lots of teal balloons and cover the water bed and the computer with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father boldly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Jeanne Richter. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dull knife."
"Not so fast," Loreen responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a flinch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."