Yvonne woke up with a pucker. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a name tag and a corset. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the billiard room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like seven-up and Russian roulette. Her dad was planning to make plenty of smoked salmon and chocolate-covered ants for everyone. Yvonne would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the fuchsia and olive green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Yvonne would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a doily! She hoped it would be a ragged doily. Her friend Roberta had said she would give her a roll of toilet paper, and her grandpa always gave her cool stuff like the washrag she gave her last year. Yvonne could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her name tag. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the country meadow. She would have to wear a tool belt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her corset.
She jogged downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like sea mist. Her dad was standing there with a slotted spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a face palm.
"Hi Daddy!" Yvonne replied uneasily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the smoked salmon," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh parsley. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Yvonne replied positively. "Do we have the chocolate-covered ants ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her father replied irritably. "It only has to blanch for eighty-five minutes."
"Okay," Yvonne replied dubiously. "I'm gonna go to the billiard room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast turkey in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the billiard 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," Yvonne responded, as she sat down to her roast turkey. "Let's hang lots of salmon balloons and cover the workbench and the toilet with carrot-orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father brightly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Charlotte Fischer. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a knife."
"The joke's on you," Yvonne responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snicker. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."