Eileen woke up with a bow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a mortarboard and a corsage. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like Mother May I and poker. Her dad was planning to make plenty of steak and tacos for everyone. Eileen would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the carrot-orange and pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Eileen would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a can of beans! She hoped it would be a peculiar can of beans. Her friend Nan had said she would give her a dog biscuit, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the blanket she gave her last year. Eileen could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blizzard was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her mortarboard. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the steppe. She would have to wear a pair of gloves instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her corsage.
She strolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pickles. Her dad was standing there with a meat tenderizer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a finger gun.
"Hi Daddy!" Eileen replied glibly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the steak," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Eileen replied unexpectedly. "Do we have the tacos ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her father replied courageously. "It only has to whirl for six minutes."
"Okay," Eileen replied fondly. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some sauerkraut in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the linen closet 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," Eileen responded, as she sat down to her sauerkraut. "Let's hang lots of chartreuse balloons and cover the recliner and the carpet with lime-green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father intensely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Alyssa Dixon. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a chopstick."
"Why not?," Eileen responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a roar. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."