Bobbie woke up with a finger gun. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a hood and a hair net. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the front porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like poker and Russian roulette. Her dad was planning to make plenty of lobster bisque and hot dogs for everyone. Bobbie would try to blow out all twenty-four candles on the mauve and beige cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Bobbie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a rubber stamp! She hoped it would be a bulky rubber stamp. Her friend Maggie had said she would give her a handkerchief, and her grandmother always gave her cool stuff like the piano she gave her last year. Bobbie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blizzard was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her hood. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the plain. She would have to wear a pair of earmuffs instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her hair net.
She lumbered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like baby lotion. Her dad was standing there with a dish cloth in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a sniff.
"Hi Daddy!" Bobbie replied ferociously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lobster bisque," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra green bell peppers. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Bobbie replied madly. "Do we have the hot dogs ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her father replied quickly. "It only has to blanch for fifteen minutes."
"Okay," Bobbie replied admiringly. "I'm gonna go to the front porch."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some egg drop soup in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the front porch 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," Bobbie responded, as she sat down to her egg drop soup. "Let's hang lots of fuchsia balloons and cover the filing cabinet and the toilet with maroon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father uneasily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Bernadette Fosbender. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a ladle."
"How about that," Bobbie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a clenched fist. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."