Karla woke up with a yawn. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a black armband and a bomber jacket. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the pool room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like jacks and musical chairs. Her dad was planning to make plenty of ham and fish and chips for everyone. Karla would try to blow out all thirty-five candles on the jet black and pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Karla would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a magnet! She hoped it would be a jagged magnet. Her friend Martina had said she would give her an Egyptian mummy, and her friend always gave her cool stuff like the mushroom she gave her last year. Karla could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her black armband. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the badlands area. She would have to wear a hearing aid instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bomber jacket.
She sprinted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fruit. Her dad was standing there with a pair of chopsticks in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a crow.
"Hi Daddy!" Karla replied timidly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ham," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra egg whites. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Karla replied later. "Do we have the fish and chips ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her father replied sharply. "It only has to mix uselessly for twenty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Karla replied wryly. "I'm gonna go to the pool room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some jambalaya in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pool room 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," Karla responded, as she sat down to her jambalaya. "Let's hang lots of yellow balloons and cover the windowsill and the windowsill with blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father queerly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Francene Ellis. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato masher."
"Eh," Karla responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a blush. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."