Samantha 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 cheerleader's uniform and a gorilla suit. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the solarium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eleven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like follow the leader and Clue. Her dad was planning to make plenty of chicken gumbo and cinnamon toast for everyone. Samantha would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the sparkly and emerald green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Samantha would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pipe! She hoped it would be a woven pipe. Her friend Lucy had said she would give her a model airplane, and her friend always gave her cool stuff like the pickle she gave her last year. Samantha 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 cheerleader's uniform. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the cliff. She would have to wear an award medal instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her gorilla suit.
She galumphed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fruit. Her dad was standing there with a piece of cheesecloth in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a woof.
"Hi Daddy!" Samantha replied jokingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken gumbo," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra black olives. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Samantha replied lightly. "Do we have the cinnamon toast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her father replied cautiously. "It only has to braise for twenty-three minutes."
"Okay," Samantha replied confidently. "I'm gonna go to the solarium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some French fries in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the solarium 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," Samantha responded, as she sat down to her French fries. "Let's hang lots of magenta balloons and cover the hammock and the TV with maroon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father peevishly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Elise Wright. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a ladle."
"Whoopee," Samantha responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a smack. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."