Kayla woke up with a gasp. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a tool belt and a gold medal. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the outhouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like tennis and charades. Her dad was planning to make plenty of pumpkin pie and prime rib for everyone. Kayla would try to blow out all twenty-one candles on the silver and violet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kayla would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an avocado! She hoped it would be a rancid avocado. Her friend Natalie had said she would give her a fishing rod, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the spittoon she gave her last year. Kayla could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an earthquake was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her tool belt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the neighborhood. She would have to wear a bodysuit instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her gold medal.
She inched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a dusty attic. Her dad was standing there with a spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a grimace.
"Hi Daddy!" Kayla replied hopefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pumpkin pie," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra chopped celery. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kayla replied angrily. "Do we have the prime rib ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her father replied languidly. "It only has to braise for fifty-three minutes."
"Okay," Kayla replied hopelessly. "I'm gonna go to the outhouse."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cotton candy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the outhouse 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," Kayla responded, as she sat down to her cotton candy. "Let's hang lots of periwinkle balloons and cover the recliner and the workbench with olive green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father briskly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Nakisha Tanaka. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric paint mixer."
"Great Scott," Kayla responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a hoot. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."