Antoinette woke up with a frown. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a badge and an armband. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-one of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Russian roulette and golf. Her dad was planning to make plenty of crab rangoon and roast Cornish game hen for everyone. Antoinette would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the brown and chocolate brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Antoinette would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an etching! She hoped it would be a multicolored etching. Her friend Vanessa had said she would give her a ticket, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the orange she gave her last year. Antoinette could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her badge. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the lagoon. She would have to wear a pair of gloves instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her armband.
She bounded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like elderberries. Her dad was standing there with an electric mixer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a grin.
"Hi Daddy!" Antoinette replied gingerly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the crab rangoon," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra butter. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Antoinette replied intensely. "Do we have the roast Cornish game hen ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her father replied lamely. "It only has to sauté for eleven minutes."
"Okay," Antoinette replied sarcastically. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken pot pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the linen 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," Antoinette responded, as she sat down to her chicken pot pie. "Let's hang lots of carrot-orange balloons and cover the end table and the wardrobe with fuchsia crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father impatiently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Kaylee Dewey. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a slotted spoon."
"Blaak," Antoinette responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a chuckle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."