Ling woke up with a raised eyebrow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a cape and a trench coat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the doghouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like shuffleboard and golf. Her dad was planning to make plenty of fried chicken and shrimp for everyone. Ling would try to blow out all thirty-five candles on the ivory and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ling would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a biscuit! She hoped it would be a crusty biscuit. Her friend Peg had said she would give her a Superman costume, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the iPhone she gave her last year. Ling could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her cape. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the marsh. She would have to wear a tattoo instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her trench coat.
She skidded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Estée Lauder. Her dad was standing there with a chopstick in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a roar.
"Hi Daddy!" Ling replied again. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fried chicken," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra orange juice. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ling replied truculently. "Do we have the shrimp ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her father replied nonchalantly. "It only has to boil for twenty-six minutes."
"Okay," Ling replied sharply. "I'm gonna go to the doghouse."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lasagna in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the doghouse 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," Ling responded, as she sat down to her lasagna. "Let's hang lots of brown balloons and cover the coat rack and the wine rack with azure crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father softly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Chris Bushnell. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a strainer."
"Yoohoo," Ling responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a pound of the chest. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."