Anne woke up with a dope slap. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of overalls and a romper. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the family room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-one of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like Simon Says and crazy eights. Her dad was planning to make plenty of crab rangoon and Cheerios for everyone. Anne would try to blow out all twenty-seven candles on the aqua and red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Anne would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cowbell! She hoped it would be a rough cowbell. Her friend Beulah had said she would give her a banana, and her wife always gave her cool stuff like the flower she gave her last year. Anne could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of overalls. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the veld. She would have to wear a vest instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her romper.
She clambered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like coconut. Her dad was standing there with a foot in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a grunt.
"Hi Daddy!" Anne replied angrily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the crab rangoon," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra mustard seed. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Anne replied gracefully. "Do we have the Cheerios ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her father replied violently. "It only has to braise for eighty-three minutes."
"Okay," Anne replied peevishly. "I'm gonna go to the family room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ramen noodles in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the family 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," Anne responded, as she sat down to her ramen noodles. "Let's hang lots of jade balloons and cover the display case and the table with pea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father nicely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Bubbles Gilson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a ladle."
"Nuts," Anne responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a flush. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."