Merna woke up with a raspberry. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a Superman costume and a tie. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the lounge was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eleven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like hearts and red light green light. Her dad was planning to make plenty of Swiss cheese and fried chicken for everyone. Merna would try to blow out all twenty-eight candles on the amber and polka dotted cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Merna would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a chart! She hoped it would be a porcelain chart. Her friend Norma had said she would give her a fork, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the dictionary she gave her last year. Merna could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her Superman costume. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the backyard. She would have to wear a girdle instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her tie.
She galloped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a wet dog. Her dad was standing there with a pastry blender in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a pucker.
"Hi Daddy!" Merna replied awkwardly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Swiss cheese," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh basil. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Merna replied bravely. "Do we have the fried chicken ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied viciously. "It only has to fry for seventy-nine minutes."
"Okay," Merna replied courteously. "I'm gonna go to the lounge."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some hamburgers 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," Merna responded, as she sat down to her hamburgers. "Let's hang lots of turquoise balloons and cover the desk and the filing cabinet with white crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father cruelly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Ying Fulton. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a candy thermometer."
"Blimey," Merna responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a sigh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."