Rosa woke up with a face palm. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a tunic and an evening gown. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the laundry room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like baseball and crazy eights. Her dad was planning to make plenty of tofu and ravioli for everyone. Rosa would try to blow out all eight candles on the polka dotted and indigo cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Rosa would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a can of beer! She hoped it would be a wet can of beer. Her friend Elinor had said she would give her a bouquet, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the iPhone she gave her last year. Rosa could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a driving rain was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her tunic. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the ridge. She would have to wear a vest instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her evening gown.
She waddled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like peanuts. Her dad was standing there with a garlic press in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a chuckle.
"Hi Daddy!" Rosa replied menacingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tofu," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cod fillets. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Rosa replied fearlessly. "Do we have the ravioli ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her father replied violently. "It only has to microwave for seventeen minutes."
"Okay," Rosa replied blindly. "I'm gonna go to the laundry room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some corn on the cob 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," Rosa responded, as she sat down to her corn on the cob. "Let's hang lots of jade balloons and cover the recliner and the counter with azure crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father wryly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Hilda Spence. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a turkey baster."
"Great," Rosa responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a tear. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."