Elliott woke up with a hiccup. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of culottes and a cloak. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the master bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like rummy and jacks. Her dad was planning to make plenty of cabbage and clam chowder for everyone. Elliott would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the turquoise and violet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Elliott would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a vacuum cleaner! She hoped it would be a used vacuum cleaner. Her friend Rose had said she would give her a chess set, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the piece of chalk she gave her last year. Elliott could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of culottes. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the arroyo. She would have to wear a Superman costume instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cloak.
She stormed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fresh coffee. Her dad was standing there with a mixing spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a sneeze.
"Hi Daddy!" Elliott replied fearfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cabbage," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra Tabasco sauce. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Elliott replied wildly. "Do we have the clam chowder ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her father replied daintily. "It only has to fry for six minutes."
"Okay," Elliott replied smoothly. "I'm gonna go to the master bathroom."
"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 master bathroom 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," Elliott responded, as she sat down to her roast Cornish game hen. "Let's hang lots of polka dotted balloons and cover the buffet and the bed with beige crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father narrowly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Kitten Lyman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a candy thermometer."
"Hang it," Elliott 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."