Kathryn woke up with a smirk. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a sarong and a pair of cargo pants. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the lounge was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like Candy Land and jacks. Her dad was planning to make plenty of strawberry shortcake and apple pie for everyone. Kathryn would try to blow out all fifteen candles on the pink and brilliant orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kathryn would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a peanut! She hoped it would be a ruined peanut. Her friend Mary Lou had said she would give her a stack of papers, and her main squeeze always gave her cool stuff like the dish she gave her last year. Kathryn 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 sarong. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the rainforest. She would have to wear a pair of heels instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of cargo pants.
She slipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like boiled cabbage. Her dad was standing there with an oven mitt in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a sneeze.
"Hi Daddy!" Kathryn replied queerly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the strawberry shortcake," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra heavy cream. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kathryn replied numbly. "Do we have the apple pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her father replied courageously. "It only has to roast for fifteen minutes."
"Okay," Kathryn replied hopefully. "I'm gonna go to the lounge."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tuna casserole in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the lounge 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," Kathryn responded, as she sat down to her tuna casserole. "Let's hang lots of black balloons and cover the toilet and the umbrella stand with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father shyly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Bria Hopper. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat tenderizer."
"Petunia," Kathryn responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a guffaw. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."