Isabel woke up with a sneeze. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bra and a hoop skirt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the atrium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like tennis and bridge. Her dad was planning to make plenty of spaghetti and lime sherbet for everyone. Isabel would try to blow out all twenty-eight candles on the maroon and periwinkle cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Isabel would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a tennis racket! She hoped it would be an aromatic tennis racket. Her friend Marla had said she would give her a peach, and her aunt always gave her cool stuff like the deck of cards she gave her last year. Isabel could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bra. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the lakeside. She would have to wear a gown instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her hoop skirt.
She bounded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like garlic. Her dad was standing there with a candy thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a pout.
"Hi Daddy!" Isabel replied resignedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the spaghetti," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pomegranate juice. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Isabel replied smoothly. "Do we have the lime sherbet ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her father replied caustically. "It only has to shake for eight minutes."
"Okay," Isabel replied miserably. "I'm gonna go to the atrium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tacos in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the atrium 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," Isabel responded, as she sat down to her tacos. "Let's hang lots of camouflage balloons and cover the bench and the stairway with beige crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father narrowly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Jordan Simons. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato masher."
"Very funny," Isabel responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a wag of the finger. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."