Esmeralda woke up with a grunt. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in an armband and a bonnet. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the den was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like cribbage and Simon Says. Her dad was planning to make plenty of biscuits and gravy and cinnamon toast for everyone. Esmeralda would try to blow out all twenty-one candles on the aquamarine and golden cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Esmeralda would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an iPhone! She hoped it would be a huge iPhone. Her friend Charlene had said she would give her a pizza, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the flyswatter she gave her last year. Esmeralda could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an earthquake was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her armband. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the badlands area. She would have to wear a peacock costume instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bonnet.
She pranced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Pla-Doh. Her dad was standing there with a meat thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a beam.
"Hi Daddy!" Esmeralda replied cruelly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the biscuits and gravy," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra parmesan cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Esmeralda replied confidently. "Do we have the cinnamon toast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her father replied narrowly. "It only has to steam for fifty-three minutes."
"Okay," Esmeralda replied courageously. "I'm gonna go to the den."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some jambalaya in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the den 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," Esmeralda responded, as she sat down to her jambalaya. "Let's hang lots of maroon balloons and cover the chair and the overstuffed chair with mauve crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father carefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Mary Sterling. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a slotted spoon."
"Aarrggh," Esmeralda responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snort. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."