Cassandra woke up with a cheer. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of shorts and a set of football pads. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the parlor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like shuffleboard and checkers. Her dad was planning to make plenty of sauerkraut and squash blossom soup for everyone. Cassandra would try to blow out all twenty-six candles on the scarlet and turquoise cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Cassandra would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a flute! She hoped it would be a smelly flute. Her friend Francie had said she would give her an advertisement, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the mirror she gave her last year. Cassandra could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pall of doom was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of shorts. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the village. She would have to wear a shirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her set of football pads.
She zipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a papermill. Her dad was standing there with a pair of chopsticks in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a kiss.
"Hi Daddy!" Cassandra replied sadly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the sauerkraut," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra poppy seeds. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Cassandra replied uselessly. "Do we have the squash blossom soup ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her father replied deliberately. "It only has to bake at 450 degrees F for two minutes."
"Okay," Cassandra replied roughly. "I'm gonna go to the parlor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some oyster on the half-shell in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the parlor 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," Cassandra responded, as she sat down to her oyster on the half-shell. "Let's hang lots of ivory balloons and cover the china cabinet and the armoire with striped crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father dreamily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Victoria Weeden. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a garlic press."
"Wild," Cassandra responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with an evil eye. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."