Darcy woke up with a clenched fist. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bomber jacket and a suit. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the outhouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like bridge and marbles. Her dad was planning to make plenty of strawberry shortcake and squash blossom soup for everyone. Darcy would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the terra cotta and khaki cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Darcy would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a can of shaving cream! She hoped it would be a wooden can of shaving cream. Her friend Brook had said she would give her a spittoon, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the hubcap she gave her last year. Darcy could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bomber jacket. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the bog. She would have to wear a pair of dungarees instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her suit.
She sprinted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like old books. Her dad was standing there with a potato peeler in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a giggle.
"Hi Daddy!" Darcy replied strangely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the strawberry shortcake," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra oat bran. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Darcy replied patiently. "Do we have the squash blossom soup ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her father replied ingeniously. "It only has to toast for four minutes."
"Okay," Darcy replied peevishly. "I'm gonna go to the outhouse."
"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 outhouse 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," Darcy responded, as she sat down to her roast turkey. "Let's hang lots of pea green balloons and cover the windowsill and the bar stool with aqua crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father glibly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Meghan Sahoo. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a wooden spoon."
"Nice," Darcy 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."