Monica woke up with a sniffle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a gun belt and a mask. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the garage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Rummy and Mother May I. Her dad was planning to make plenty of cinnamon toast and doughnuts for everyone. Monica would try to blow out all twenty-seven candles on the aquamarine and aqua cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Monica would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a spinning wheel! She hoped it would be a hefty spinning wheel. Her friend Emily had said she would give her a daisy, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the chair she gave her last year. Monica could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hailstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her gun belt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the rainforest. She would have to wear a nightgown instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her mask.
She zoomed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like dill pickles. Her dad was standing there with a meat thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a face palm.
"Hi Daddy!" Monica replied roughly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cinnamon toast," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra olive oil. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Monica replied dreamily. "Do we have the doughnuts ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her father replied bitterly. "It only has to sear for sixty-five minutes."
"Okay," Monica replied daintily. "I'm gonna go to the garage."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some hash 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," Monica responded, as she sat down to her hash. "Let's hang lots of chocolate brown balloons and cover the hammock and the pedestal with red crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father breathlessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Mandy Gupta. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric mixer."
"Can it," Monica responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a shrug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."