Teresa woke up with a hiccup. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pocket watch and a tam o'shanter. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the foyer was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like hearts and Monopoly. Her dad was planning to make plenty of roast turkey and dry toast for everyone. Teresa would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the rose and red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Teresa would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pair of binoculars! She hoped it would be a queer pair of binoculars. Her friend Ginger had said she would give her an avocado, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the stuffed kitten she gave her last year. Teresa could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pocket watch. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the badlands area. She would have to wear a pair of booties instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her tam o'shanter.
She slithered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like ammonia. Her dad was standing there with a pair of chopsticks in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a simper.
"Hi Daddy!" Teresa replied sourly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast turkey," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra lime juice. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Teresa replied crankily. "Do we have the dry toast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her father replied impatiently. "It only has to deep fry for seventy-seven minutes."
"Okay," Teresa replied tensely. "I'm gonna go to the foyer."
"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 foyer 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," Teresa responded, as she sat down to her ice cream. "Let's hang lots of brilliant orange balloons and cover the end table and the water bed with lavender crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father oddly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Teresa Benton. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a piece of cheesecloth."
"Shazam," Teresa responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a bound. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."