Clara woke up with a sneeze. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a fedora and a belly button jewel. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the hall was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like trivia and chess. Her dad was planning to make plenty of ham and enchiladas for everyone. Clara would try to blow out all two candles on the blue and indigo cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Clara would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a wrench! She hoped it would be a disgusting wrench. Her friend Nettie had said she would give her a bag of groceries, and her sister always gave her cool stuff like the coin she gave her last year. Clara 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 fedora. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the arroyo. She would have to wear a sweater instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her belly button jewel.
She paraded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like perfume. Her dad was standing there with a potato peeler in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a curtsey.
"Hi Daddy!" Clara replied glibly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ham," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Clara replied intensely. "Do we have the enchiladas ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her father replied quietly. "It only has to roast for thirty-three minutes."
"Okay," Clara replied lovingly. "I'm gonna go to the hall."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ice cream in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the hall 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," Clara responded, as she sat down to her ice cream. "Let's hang lots of black balloons and cover the pool table and the pedestal with chartreuse crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father madly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Tonya Barry. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cookie cutter."
"Anyhow," Clara responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a pucker. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."