Meg woke up with a woof. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of safety glasses and a pair of booties. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the servant's quarters was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like leapfrog and dodge ball. Her dad was planning to make plenty of oyster on the half-shell and lobster bisque for everyone. Meg would try to blow out all four candles on the terra cotta and hot pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Meg would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a rope! She hoped it would be a gigantic rope. Her friend Irma had said she would give her a pinwheel, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the dog collar she gave her last year. Meg could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of safety glasses. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the mountaintop. She would have to wear a trench coat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of booties.
She slid downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like formaldehyde. Her dad was standing there with a napkin in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a wince.
"Hi Daddy!" Meg replied intensely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the oyster on the half-shell," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh spinach. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Meg replied deliberately. "Do we have the lobster bisque ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her father replied delicately. "It only has to press for eighty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Meg replied hungrily. "I'm gonna go to the servant's quarters."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some mushroom quiche in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the servant's quarters 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," Meg responded, as she sat down to her mushroom quiche. "Let's hang lots of brilliant orange balloons and cover the hammock and the coat rack with forest green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father narrowly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Elly Appleby. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Aha," Meg responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a sneer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."