Isabella woke up with a power fist. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a parka and a scarf. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the laundry room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like Russian roulette and volleyball. Her dad was planning to make plenty of jambalaya and pretzels for everyone. Isabella would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the azure and amber cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Isabella would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a notebook! She hoped it would be a thick notebook. Her friend Iris had said she would give her a dart, and her wife always gave her cool stuff like the paper towel she gave her last year. Isabella could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her parka. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the stream. She would have to wear a set of scrubs instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her scarf.
She bounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like mildew. Her dad was standing there with a cookie cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a clenched fist.
"Hi Daddy!" Isabella replied coldly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the jambalaya," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra mustard. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Isabella replied woodenly. "Do we have the pretzels ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her father replied cheerfully. "It only has to roast for forty-three minutes."
"Okay," Isabella replied silently. "I'm gonna go to the laundry room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some strawberry shortcake in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the laundry room 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 strawberry shortcake. "Let's hang lots of amber balloons and cover the hamper and the beanbag chair with purple crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father warily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Wanda Elwood. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a wooden spoon."
"Yippee," Isabella responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a beam. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."