Francie woke up with a chuckle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a beehive and a wedding dress. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the servant's quarters was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like Parcheesi and billiards. Her dad was planning to make plenty of moo goo gai pan and brownies for everyone. Francie would try to blow out all two candles on the burgundy and teal cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Francie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a flash drive! She hoped it would be a fuzzy flash drive. Her friend Beatrice had said she would give her a cowbell, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the pot she gave her last year. Francie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a lightning storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her beehive. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the canyon. She would have to wear a bonnet instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her wedding dress.
She zoomed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like tar. Her dad was standing there with a strainer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a titter.
"Hi Daddy!" Francie replied admiringly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the moo goo gai pan," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra tarragon. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Francie replied violently. "Do we have the brownies ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her father replied carelessly. "It only has to fry for eight minutes."
"Okay," Francie replied majestically. "I'm gonna go to the servant's quarters."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast Cornish game hen in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the servant's quarters 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," Francie responded, as she sat down to her roast Cornish game hen. "Let's hang lots of navy blue balloons and cover the four-poster bed and the stairway with mauve crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father carelessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Jean Kuma. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an oven mitt."
"Righto," Francie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a tear. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."