Eve woke up with a flinch. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a jacket and a beehive. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the game room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like duck duck goose and battleship. Her dad was planning to make plenty of enchiladas and falafel for everyone. Eve would try to blow out all twenty-four candles on the khaki and lime-green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Eve would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a picture! She hoped it would be a bronze picture. Her friend Pam had said she would give her a hair brush, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the banana she gave her last year. Eve could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drizzle was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her jacket. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the lakeside. She would have to wear a wizard's hat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her beehive.
She tramped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a stagnant pond. Her dad was standing there with a paring knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a growl.
"Hi Daddy!" Eve replied vigorously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the enchiladas," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra molasses. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Eve replied craftily. "Do we have the falafel ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her father replied tenderly. "It only has to age for sixty-three minutes."
"Okay," Eve replied reluctantly. "I'm gonna go to the game room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chocolate-covered ants in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the game 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," Eve responded, as she sat down to her chocolate-covered ants. "Let's hang lots of jade balloons and cover the pedestal and the filing cabinet with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father fiercely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Dusty Logan. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Excellent," Eve responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a wince. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."