Marilyn woke up with a honk. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in an apron and a tinfoil hat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the rec room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like musical chairs and shuffleboard. Her dad was planning to make plenty of ceviche and ravioli for everyone. Marilyn would try to blow out all seven candles on the salmon and yellow cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Marilyn would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hair dryer! She hoped it would be a nifty hair dryer. Her friend Victoria had said she would give her a camera, and her grandma always gave her cool stuff like the paintbrush she gave her last year. Marilyn could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane 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 swamp. She would have to wear a nose ring instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her tinfoil hat.
She barrelled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like lilies. Her dad was standing there with an electric paint mixer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a gurgle.
"Hi Daddy!" Marilyn replied patiently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ceviche," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra bean sprouts. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Marilyn replied breathlessly. "Do we have the ravioli ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her father replied awkwardly. "It only has to place on serving dish for fifteen minutes."
"Okay," Marilyn replied arrogantly. "I'm gonna go to the rec room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chopped liver in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the rec room 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," Marilyn responded, as she sat down to her chopped liver. "Let's hang lots of black balloons and cover the counter and the bookshelf with crimson crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father oddly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Oona Lombardi. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato masher."
"Woof," Marilyn responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snigger. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."