Margaret woke up with a flush. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a flak jacket and a set of pink foam curlers. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the rec room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like volleyball and baseball. Her dad was planning to make plenty of hash and pecan pie for everyone. Margaret would try to blow out all seven candles on the teal and tan cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Margaret would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a candle! She hoped it would be a miniature candle. Her friend Laci had said she would give her a pumpkin, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the hacksaw she gave her last year. Margaret could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her flak jacket. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the countryside. She would have to wear an award medal instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her set of pink foam curlers.
She slithered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like bubble gum. Her dad was standing there with an electric mixer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a sneer.
"Hi Daddy!" Margaret replied happily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hash," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra chili powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Margaret replied mysteriously. "Do we have the pecan pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her father replied blindly. "It only has to scramble for four minutes."
"Okay," Margaret replied fearlessly. "I'm gonna go to the rec room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some scrambled eggs in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the rec 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," Margaret responded, as she sat down to her scrambled eggs. "Let's hang lots of mauve balloons and cover the bookshelf and the washing machine with pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father lamely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Sophie Douglas. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an oven mitt."
"Dang," Margaret responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a titter. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."