Ellen woke up with a grunt. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a belt buckle and a cape. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the outhouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like Mother May I and trivia. Her dad was planning to make plenty of Cheerios and pumpkin pie for everyone. Ellen would try to blow out all seven candles on the jet black and indigo cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ellen would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a model airplane! She hoped it would be an amazing model airplane. Her friend Ella had said she would give her a bag of popcorn, and her main squeeze always gave her cool stuff like the artificial flower she gave her last year. Ellen could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her belt buckle. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the canyon. She would have to wear a winter coat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cape.
She slid downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like gardenias. Her dad was standing there with an oven mitt in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a roar.
"Hi Daddy!" Ellen replied confidently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Cheerios," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cream cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ellen replied ferociously. "Do we have the pumpkin pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her father replied sadly. "It only has to place on serving dish for seventy-eight minutes."
"Okay," Ellen replied crankily. "I'm gonna go to the outhouse."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some macaroni and cheese in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the outhouse 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," Ellen responded, as she sat down to her macaroni and cheese. "Let's hang lots of carrot-orange balloons and cover the bench and the ping-pong table with grey crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father recklessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Shawna Wallace. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a turkey baster."
"Aw," Ellen responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a curtsey. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."