Leila 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 babushka and a bulletproof vest. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like shuffleboard and battleship. Her dad was planning to make plenty of biscuits and gravy and brownies for everyone. Leila would try to blow out all five candles on the periwinkle and jet black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Leila would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a corncob! She hoped it would be a damaged corncob. Her friend Rosemary had said she would give her a yardstick, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the dollhouse she gave her last year. Leila could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an earthquake was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her babushka. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the glen. She would have to wear a set of dentures instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bulletproof vest.
She jumped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like hot cocoa. Her dad was standing there with a foot in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a sniffle.
"Hi Daddy!" Leila replied humbly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the biscuits and gravy," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra thyme. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Leila replied gruffly. "Do we have the brownies ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her father replied hopelessly. "It only has to bake at 450 degrees F for forty-four minutes."
"Okay," Leila replied softly. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cabbage 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," Leila responded, as she sat down to her cabbage. "Let's hang lots of sparkly balloons and cover the card table and the armoire with chocolate brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father delicately. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Lillian Palca. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an egg cutter."
"Alley oop," Leila responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a bound. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."