Francene woke up with a shrug. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a body shirt and a belt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the basement was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like red rover and jump rope. Her dad was planning to make plenty of pretzels and egg salad sandwich for everyone. Francene would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the chartreuse and olive drab cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Francene would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a banana! She hoped it would be an expensive banana. Her friend Krystal had said she would give her a saw, and her grandpa always gave her cool stuff like the box she gave her last year. Francene could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her body shirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the tundra. She would have to wear a pair of Groucho glasses instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her belt.
She slid downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a saloon. Her dad was standing there with a sharp knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a jeer.
"Hi Daddy!" Francene replied impatiently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pretzels," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra chopped green pepper. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Francene replied merrily. "Do we have the egg salad sandwich ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her father replied grimly. "It only has to toast for thirty-six minutes."
"Okay," Francene replied carefully. "I'm gonna go to the basement."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Swiss cheese in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the basement 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," Francene responded, as she sat down to her Swiss cheese. "Let's hang lots of pink balloons and cover the bed and the china hutch with brilliant orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father furiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Brittany Chesney. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Phew," Francene responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a bow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."