Minnie woke up with a wrinkled nose. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of culottes and a fez. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the corridor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like baseball and tag. Her dad was planning to make plenty of pizza and chicken pot pie for everyone. Minnie would try to blow out all fourteen candles on the grey and pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Minnie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hubcap! She hoped it would be a dry hubcap. Her friend Dierdre had said she would give her a cookie, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the brochure she gave her last year. Minnie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of culottes. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the field. She would have to wear a hearing aid instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her fez.
She marched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a wet dog. Her dad was standing there with a bare foot in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a shout.
"Hi Daddy!" Minnie replied ferociously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pizza," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra codfish pieces. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Minnie replied recklessly. "Do we have the chicken pot pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her father replied oddly. "It only has to deep fry for twenty-five minutes."
"Okay," Minnie replied majestically. "I'm gonna go to the corridor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some mushroom quiche in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the corridor 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," Minnie responded, as she sat down to her mushroom quiche. "Let's hang lots of sea green balloons and cover the table and the file cabinet with peach crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father quietly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Sierra Ellis. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dish cloth."
"Eww," Minnie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a fist bump. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."