Minnie woke up with a flinch. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a hearing aid and a set of dentures. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the workshop was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like marbles and hide and seek. Her dad was planning to make plenty of lime sherbet and cherries jubilee for everyone. Minnie would try to blow out all nine candles on the tan and pea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Minnie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a stuffed bunny! She hoped it would be a gaudy stuffed bunny. Her friend Linda had said she would give her a fishing pole, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the paper clip she gave her last year. Minnie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her hearing aid. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the path. She would have to wear a nightgown instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her set of dentures.
She strolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a campfire. Her dad was standing there with a knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a titter.
"Hi Daddy!" Minnie replied primly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lime sherbet," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra shelled pecans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Minnie replied fearlessly. "Do we have the cherries jubilee ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her father replied greedily. "It only has to heat in microwave for eighty-three minutes."
"Okay," Minnie replied excitedly. "I'm gonna go to the workshop."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some egg salad sandwich in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the workshop 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," Minnie responded, as she sat down to her egg salad sandwich. "Let's hang lots of salmon balloons and cover the safe and the piano with jade crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father queerly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Shirley Shakewell. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a piece of cheesecloth."
"Kaboom," Minnie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a backward glance. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."