Deb woke up with a belch. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a blanket and a hood. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the pool room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like ring around the rosie and pool. Her dad was planning to make plenty of applesauce and steak for everyone. Deb would try to blow out all thirty candles on the aquamarine and orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Deb would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a flag! She hoped it would be a ridged flag. Her friend Savannah had said she would give her a stamp, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the Van Gogh she gave her last year. Deb could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her blanket. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the path. She would have to wear a ponytail instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her hood.
She traipsed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cigars. Her dad was standing there with a turkey baster in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a coo.
"Hi Daddy!" Deb replied boldly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the applesauce," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra white wine. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Deb replied violently. "Do we have the steak ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her father replied energetically. "It only has to heat in microwave for forty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Deb replied reluctantly. "I'm gonna go to the pool room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some potatoes and gravy 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," Deb responded, as she sat down to her potatoes and gravy. "Let's hang lots of jade balloons and cover the washstand and the coffee table with scarlet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father hastily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Jodene Evans. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a chopstick."
"Deranged," Deb responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a gasp. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."