Faye woke up with a simper. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a fur coat and a pair of galoshes. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the pool room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like badminton and Mother May I. Her dad was planning to make plenty of burritos and prime rib for everyone. Faye would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the blue and jet black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Faye would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cigar! She hoped it would be a filthy cigar. Her friend Emma had said she would give her a bag of ice, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the houseplant she gave her last year. Faye could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her fur coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the gulch. She would have to wear a black belt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of galoshes.
She staggered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like barbeque. Her dad was standing there with an ice pick in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a sneer.
"Hi Daddy!" Faye replied needlessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the burritos," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sweet potatoes. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Faye replied victoriously. "Do we have the prime rib ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her father replied effortlessly. "It only has to age for ten minutes."
"Okay," Faye replied angrily. "I'm gonna go to the pool room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some prime rib in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pool room 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," Faye responded, as she sat down to her prime rib. "Let's hang lots of burgundy balloons and cover the washstand and the carpet with magenta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father grandly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Doralene Bender. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat tenderizer."
"Oh my word," Faye responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a jeer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."