Ruth woke up with a sniff. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a skeleton costume and a mortarboard. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boiler room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eleven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like tag and marbles. Her dad was planning to make plenty of clam chowder and banana split for everyone. Ruth would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the sea green and indigo cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ruth would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Big Gulp! She hoped it would be a gigantic Big Gulp. Her friend Jane had said she would give her an antenna, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the rubber chicken she gave her last year. Ruth could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pelting rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her skeleton costume. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the outback. She would have to wear a flak jacket instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her mortarboard.
She crept downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like buttermilk. Her dad was standing there with a pastry blender in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a simper.
"Hi Daddy!" Ruth replied dolorously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the clam chowder," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh basil. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ruth replied later. "Do we have the banana split ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her father replied grandly. "It only has to spread into container for sixty minutes."
"Okay," Ruth replied demurely. "I'm gonna go to the boiler room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some bonbons in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boiler 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," Ruth responded, as she sat down to her bonbons. "Let's hang lots of rose balloons and cover the hammock and the bookshelf with green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father arrogantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Shandra Hanson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric paint mixer."
"Gawwwleeee," Ruth responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a roar. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."