Cherise woke up with a caress. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bathrobe and a wet suit. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like pool and dominos. Her dad was planning to make plenty of falafel and chocolate-covered ants for everyone. Cherise would try to blow out all twenty-six candles on the amber and purple cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Cherise would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fire extinguisher! She hoped it would be a delicate fire extinguisher. Her friend Samina had said she would give her a sack, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the Kindle she gave her last year. Cherise could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a thunderstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bathrobe. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the dump. She would have to wear a Hawaiian shirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her wet suit.
She rolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like coffee. Her dad was standing there with a foot in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a pucker.
"Hi Daddy!" Cherise replied diligently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the falafel," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra rosemary. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Cherise replied gleefully. "Do we have the chocolate-covered ants ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her father replied tenderly. "It only has to sear for sixty-five minutes."
"Okay," Cherise replied defiantly. "I'm gonna go to the porch."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cinnamon toast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the 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," Cherise responded, as she sat down to her cinnamon toast. "Let's hang lots of scarlet balloons and cover the filing cabinet and the recliner with scarlet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father woefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Mabel Peterson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Bless my hide," Cherise responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snicker. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."