Camella woke up with a sneeze. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a shawl and a tuxedo. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like red light green light and baseball. Her dad was planning to make plenty of duck a l'orange and hors d'oeuvre for everyone. Camella would try to blow out all eleven candles on the camouflage and magenta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Camella would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a saddle! She hoped it would be a queer saddle. Her friend Darcy had said she would give her a rag, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the rose she gave her last year. Camella could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her shawl. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the arroyo. She would have to wear a jumpsuit instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her tuxedo.
She waltzed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a pig. Her dad was standing there with a chopstick in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a smack.
"Hi Daddy!" Camella replied innocently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the duck a l'orange," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pistachios. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Camella replied madly. "Do we have the hors d'oeuvre ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her father replied hysterically. "It only has to fry impatiently in green skillet for fifty-three minutes."
"Okay," Camella replied sarcastically. "I'm gonna go to the closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ice cream 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," Camella responded, as she sat down to her ice cream. "Let's hang lots of blue balloons and cover the nightstand and the bath mat with aquamarine crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father lovingly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Kitten McAllister. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a mixing spoon."
"Ten-four," Camella responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a raised eyebrow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."