Avery woke up with a belly laugh. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a sweatshirt and a pair of Crocs. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the hall was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like ring around the rosie and Monopoly. Her dad was planning to make plenty of scrambled eggs and dirty rice for everyone. Avery would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the yellow and chartreuse cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Avery would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a book! She hoped it would be a ridged book. Her friend Nicole had said she would give her a daisy, and her friend always gave her cool stuff like the stapler she gave her last year. Avery 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 sweatshirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the savanna. She would have to wear a ski mask instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of Crocs.
She inched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like coconut. Her dad was standing there with a meat thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a furrowed brow.
"Hi Daddy!" Avery replied sarcastically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the scrambled eggs," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra fava beans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Avery replied nonchalantly. "Do we have the dirty rice ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her father replied energetically. "It only has to slow cook for sixty-five minutes."
"Okay," Avery replied crossly. "I'm gonna go to the hall."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Hamburger Helper in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the hall 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," Avery responded, as she sat down to her Hamburger Helper. "Let's hang lots of polka dotted balloons and cover the futon and the carpet with burgundy crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father automatically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, LaVerne Mann. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a grater."
"Um," Avery responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a finger gun. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."