Rosa woke up with a finger gun. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a straitjacket and a bulletproof vest. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the attic was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Parcheesi and shuffleboard. Her dad was planning to make plenty of chopped liver and fondue for everyone. Rosa would try to blow out all two candles on the lime-green and olive green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Rosa would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bedpan! She hoped it would be an original bedpan. Her friend Jill had said she would give her a stack of papers, and her sister always gave her cool stuff like the china doll she gave her last year. Rosa 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 straitjacket. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the trail. She would have to wear a set of football pads instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bulletproof vest.
She hobbled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like buttermilk. Her dad was standing there with a corkscrew in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a snarl.
"Hi Daddy!" Rosa replied grimly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chopped liver," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra ground pork. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Rosa replied fervently. "Do we have the fondue ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her father replied blissfully. "It only has to scramble for sixty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Rosa replied impatiently. "I'm gonna go to the attic."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some beans in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the attic 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," Rosa responded, as she sat down to her beans. "Let's hang lots of sea green balloons and cover the hammock and the cupboard with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father admiringly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Betsy Murphy. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Ugh," Rosa responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a shiver. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."