Carla woke up with a caress. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in an Eton jacket and a bolo tie. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the workshop was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like chess and hopscotch. Her dad was planning to make plenty of duck a l'orange and ramen noodles for everyone. Carla would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the rose and green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Carla would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a napkin! She hoped it would be a hideous napkin. Her friend Hazel had said she would give her a hubcap, and her sister always gave her cool stuff like the diagram she gave her last year. Carla could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her Eton jacket. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the mountaintop. She would have to wear a blazer instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bolo tie.
She careened downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like hairspray. Her dad was standing there with a garlic press in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a sneer.
"Hi Daddy!" Carla replied suddenly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the duck a l'orange," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra ground mustard. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Carla replied zestily. "Do we have the ramen noodles ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her father replied frenetically. "It only has to freeze for thirty-four minutes."
"Okay," Carla replied brashly. "I'm gonna go to the workshop."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some smoked salmon in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the workshop 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," Carla responded, as she sat down to her smoked salmon. "Let's hang lots of camouflage balloons and cover the bookcase and the dishwasher with orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father cunningly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Jackie Hudson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an egg cutter."
"Bada bing bada boom," Carla responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a cringe. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."