Hayley 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 cape and a gunny sack. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the master bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like golf and chess. Her dad was planning to make plenty of corn on the cob and corn on the cob for everyone. Hayley would try to blow out all twenty-eight candles on the azure and tan cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Hayley would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a telephone book! She hoped it would be an automatic telephone book. Her friend Drew had said she would give her a coin, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the clothespin she gave her last year. Hayley 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 gulch. She would have to wear a coat of mail instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her gunny sack.
She padded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cheap cologne. Her dad was standing there with a turkey baster in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a curtsey.
"Hi Daddy!" Hayley replied daintily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the corn on the cob," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pomegranate juice. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Hayley replied surreptitiously. "Do we have the corn on the cob ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her father replied awkwardly. "It only has to slow cook for sixty minutes."
"Okay," Hayley replied sadly. "I'm gonna go to the master bathroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fondue in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the master bathroom 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," Hayley responded, as she sat down to her fondue. "Let's hang lots of azure balloons and cover the chest of drawers and the windowsill with purple crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father timidly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Agnes Ryan. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dish cloth."
"Oh," Hayley responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a frown. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."