Holly 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 helmet and a parka. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the auditorium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like roulette and Snakes and Ladders. Her dad was planning to make plenty of ravioli and pecan pie for everyone. Holly would try to blow out all twenty-three candles on the sea green and violet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Holly would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a saw! She hoped it would be a rancid saw. Her friend Cecelia had said she would give her a handkerchief, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the jar of olives she gave her last year. Holly could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an earthquake was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her helmet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the path. She would have to wear a pair of boxing gloves instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her parka.
She marched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like buttermilk. Her dad was standing there with a melon baller in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a honk.
"Hi Daddy!" Holly replied needlessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ravioli," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra lemon zest. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Holly replied gently. "Do we have the pecan pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her father replied dolefully. "It only has to shake for seventy-five minutes."
"Okay," Holly replied warily. "I'm gonna go to the auditorium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some dirty rice in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the auditorium 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," Holly responded, as she sat down to her dirty rice. "Let's hang lots of maroon balloons and cover the rug and the water bed with fuchsia crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father roughly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Kimberly Norman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an egg cutter."
"Hurray," Holly responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a belly laugh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."