Bev woke up with a pout. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a gold medal and a toupee. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the corridor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like follow the leader and seven-up. Her dad was planning to make plenty of pumpkin pie and chicken soup for everyone. Bev would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the grey and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Bev would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bedpan! She hoped it would be an amazing bedpan. Her friend Lucy had said she would give her a cell phone, and her wife always gave her cool stuff like the ingot of plutonium she gave her last year. Bev 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 gold medal. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the bog. She would have to wear a body shirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her toupee.
She barrelled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like wine. Her dad was standing there with a fork in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a smile.
"Hi Daddy!" Bev replied madly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pumpkin pie," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Bev replied testily. "Do we have the chicken soup ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her father replied frantically. "It only has to deep fry for thirty-one minutes."
"Okay," Bev replied sheepishly. "I'm gonna go to the corridor."
"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 corridor 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," Bev responded, as she sat down to her potatoes and gravy. "Let's hang lots of sparkly balloons and cover the mattress and the cash register with silver crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father grudgingly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Irma Vincent. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a candy thermometer."
"I beg your pardon," Bev responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a hoot. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."