Krystal woke up with a flinch. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a negligee and a shirt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the attic was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like volleyball and Monopoly. Her dad was planning to make plenty of chicken soup and pumpkin pie for everyone. Krystal would try to blow out all twelve candles on the turquoise and fuchsia cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Krystal would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an Egyptian mummy! She hoped it would be a woven Egyptian mummy. Her friend Winnie had said she would give her a wastebasket, and her grandmother always gave her cool stuff like the bicycle she gave her last year. Krystal could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drizzle was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her negligee. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the mountaintop. She would have to wear a pair of dungarees instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her shirt.
She crawled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like mountain air. Her dad was standing there with an oven mitt in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a belch.
"Hi Daddy!" Krystal replied truculently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken soup," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra clam juice. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Krystal replied nicely. "Do we have the pumpkin pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her father replied queerly. "It only has to bake at 450 degrees F for thirty minutes."
"Okay," Krystal replied joyously. "I'm gonna go to the attic."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pie a la mode in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the attic 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," Krystal responded, as she sat down to her pie a la mode. "Let's hang lots of chartreuse balloons and cover the hope chest and the catbird seat with aqua crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father gracefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Tonya Grundy. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an oven mitt."
"Gawwwleeee," Krystal responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a death glare. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."