Wilma woke up with a raspberry. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a swimsuit and a tutu. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like Clue and badminton. Her dad was planning to make plenty of hamburgers and pie a la mode for everyone. Wilma would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the peach and scarlet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Wilma would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a coupon! She hoped it would be an excellent coupon. Her friend Jen had said she would give her an Egyptian mummy, and her grandpa always gave her cool stuff like the corncob she gave her last year. Wilma could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her swimsuit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the peninsula. She would have to wear a belly button jewel instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her tutu.
She slid downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like licorice. Her dad was standing there with a potato peeler in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a belch.
"Hi Daddy!" Wilma replied openly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hamburgers," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra applesauce. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Wilma replied gently. "Do we have the pie a la mode ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied gratefully. "It only has to microwave for eighty minutes."
"Okay," Wilma replied thoughtfully. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some egg salad sandwich in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the linen closet 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," Wilma responded, as she sat down to her egg salad sandwich. "Let's hang lots of aquamarine balloons and cover the dishwasher and the bathtub with olive drab crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father gracefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Kendra Bagman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an egg cutter."
"Alack," Wilma responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a raspberry. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."