Nora woke up with a wrinkled nose. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bathrobe and a pair of moccasins. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the den was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Simon Says and blackjack. Her dad was planning to make plenty of steak and Swiss cheese for everyone. Nora would try to blow out all nine candles on the rose and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Nora would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a tablet computer! She hoped it would be an aromatic tablet computer. Her friend Terri had said she would give her a napkin, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the diagram she gave her last year. Nora could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a driving rain was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bathrobe. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the range. She would have to wear a corsage instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of moccasins.
She sidled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like basil. Her dad was standing there with a paring knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a shout.
"Hi Daddy!" Nora replied briskly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the steak," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra lemon zest. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Nora replied firmly. "Do we have the Swiss cheese ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her father replied coldly. "It only has to freeze for sixty-four minutes."
"Okay," Nora replied properly. "I'm gonna go to the den."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some corn on the cob 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," Nora responded, as she sat down to her corn on the cob. "Let's hang lots of carrot-orange balloons and cover the footstool and the carpet with crimson crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father lovingly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Lucia Benton. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a paring knife."
"Banzai," Nora 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."