Cherise woke up with a wag of the finger. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a coonskin hat and a sombrero. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the parlor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like doctor and jacks. Her dad was planning to make plenty of macaroni and cheese and lobster bisque for everyone. Cherise would try to blow out all nine candles on the amber and carrot-orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Cherise would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a sack! She hoped it would be a dirty sack. Her friend Marilyn had said she would give her an amulet, and her friend always gave her cool stuff like the telephone she gave her last year. Cherise could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dense fog was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her coonskin hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the garden. She would have to wear a gladiator helmet instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her sombrero.
She pranced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like sautéed onions. Her dad was standing there with a blender in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a gurgle.
"Hi Daddy!" Cherise replied warily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the macaroni and cheese," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra oregano. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Cherise replied positively. "Do we have the lobster bisque ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her father replied merrily. "It only has to braise for seventy-three minutes."
"Okay," Cherise replied sweetly. "I'm gonna go to the parlor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some macaroni and cheese in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the parlor 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 macaroni and cheese. "Let's hang lots of jet black balloons and cover the water bed and the canopy bed with carrot-orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father dolorously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Robin Yager. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a whisk."
"Oh well," Cherise responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snuffle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."