Meg woke up with a snigger. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a belly button jewel and a pair of briefs. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the kitchen was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like baseball and ring around the rosie. Her dad was planning to make plenty of oyster on the half-shell and cornbread for everyone. Meg would try to blow out all ten candles on the violet and carrot-orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Meg would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fire hose! She hoped it would be a damaged fire hose. Her friend Dagmar had said she would give her a bicycle, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the knitting needle she gave her last year. Meg could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a snowstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her belly button jewel. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the hillside. She would have to wear a pair of Bermuda shorts instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of briefs.
She sashayed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like beer. Her dad was standing there with a wooden spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a honk.
"Hi Daddy!" Meg replied fearfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the oyster on the half-shell," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra chicken broth. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Meg replied sweetly. "Do we have the cornbread ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her father replied ignobly. "It only has to roast for four minutes."
"Okay," Meg replied stealthily. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some popcorn in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the kitchen 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," Meg responded, as she sat down to her popcorn. "Let's hang lots of salmon balloons and cover the water bed and the rocking chair with teal crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father blissfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Esther Lizard. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a fork."
"Alley oop," Meg responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a hoot. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."