Dusty woke up with a crow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a uniform and a bolo tie. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like seven-up and doctor. Her dad was planning to make plenty of prime rib and prune pudding for everyone. Dusty would try to blow out all twenty-eight candles on the jet black and terra cotta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Dusty would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a paperclip! She hoped it would be a smelly paperclip. Her friend Shawna had said she would give her a mirror, and her wife always gave her cool stuff like the accordion she gave her last year. Dusty could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her uniform. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the marsh. She would have to wear a straitjacket instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bolo tie.
She waddled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like anise. Her dad was standing there with a potato masher in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a titter.
"Hi Daddy!" Dusty replied victoriously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the prime rib," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra beer. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Dusty replied ingeniously. "Do we have the prune pudding ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied arrogantly. "It only has to braise for eleven minutes."
"Okay," Dusty replied deliberately. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fried okra in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the living 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," Dusty responded, as she sat down to her fried okra. "Let's hang lots of khaki balloons and cover the china cabinet and the rocking chair with olive drab crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father recklessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Claudia Peña. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dull knife."
"Meow," Dusty responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a power fist. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."