Madeline woke up with a pucker. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in an apron and a bustier. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the garage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like bridge and Parcheesi. Her dad was planning to make plenty of prime rib and doughnuts for everyone. Madeline would try to blow out all six candles on the carrot-orange and metallic red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Madeline would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an orchid! She hoped it would be a flexible orchid. Her friend Kimberly had said she would give her a stack of papers, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the sack of potatoes she gave her last year. Madeline could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her apron. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the path. She would have to wear a beanie instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bustier.
She swaggered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Cartier. Her dad was standing there with a knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a smirk.
"Hi Daddy!" Madeline replied sagely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the prime rib," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra corn chips. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Madeline replied fondly. "Do we have the doughnuts ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her father replied nonchalantly. "It only has to melt for fifty-five minutes."
"Okay," Madeline replied slyly. "I'm gonna go to the garage."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast Cornish game hen in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the garage 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," Madeline responded, as she sat down to her roast Cornish game hen. "Let's hang lots of chartreuse balloons and cover the footstool and the windowsill with white crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father demurely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Ellen Gonzalez. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a blender."
"Bless my hide," Madeline responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a raspberry. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."