Isabella woke up with a growl. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a fur coat and a pair of nylons. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like Monopoly and dominos. Her dad was planning to make plenty of crumb cake and chicken chow mein for everyone. Isabella would try to blow out all five candles on the tan and brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Isabella would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a shoe! She hoped it would be a synthetic shoe. Her friend Carolyn had said she would give her a toy, and her sister always gave her cool stuff like the purse she gave her last year. Isabella could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her fur coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the neighborhood. She would have to wear a set of braces instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of nylons.
She jumped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like wine. Her dad was standing there with a paring knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a crow.
"Hi Daddy!" Isabella replied nonchalantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the crumb cake," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra nutmeg. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Isabella replied nonchalantly. "Do we have the chicken chow mein ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her father replied roughly. "It only has to press for sixteen minutes."
"Okay," Isabella replied glibly. "I'm gonna go to the closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken gumbo in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the closet 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," Isabella responded, as she sat down to her chicken gumbo. "Let's hang lots of white balloons and cover the beanbag chair and the toilet with white crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father nimbly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Jacqueline Lions. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dish cloth."
"Wahoo," Isabella responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with an evil eye. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."