Melkadas woke up with a snarl. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a robe and a business suit. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the front porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like croquet and shuffleboard. Her dad was planning to make plenty of cabbage and doughnuts for everyone. Melkadas would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the carrot-orange and hot pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Melkadas would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a spoon! She hoped it would be a nice spoon. Her friend Mama had said she would give her an African violet, and her main squeeze always gave her cool stuff like the flute she gave her last year. Melkadas could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her robe. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the lakeside. She would have to wear a pair of boxing gloves instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her business suit.
She straggled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like bananas. Her dad was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a backward glance.
"Hi Daddy!" Melkadas replied recklessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cabbage," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra lima beans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Melkadas replied briskly. "Do we have the doughnuts ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her father replied zestily. "It only has to arrange for fifty minutes."
"Okay," Melkadas replied briskly. "I'm gonna go to the front porch."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tacos in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the front porch 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," Melkadas responded, as she sat down to her tacos. "Let's hang lots of aqua balloons and cover the recliner and the filing cabinet with white crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father lamely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Yvonne Metzger. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cheesecloth."
"Phew," Melkadas responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a jeer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."