April woke up with a hug. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a blazer and a smartwatch. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the master bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like shuffleboard and Parcheesi. Her dad was planning to make plenty of duck a l'orange and strawberry shortcake for everyone. April would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the violet and olive drab cake. While the guests were eating their cake, April would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a baton! She hoped it would be an unusual baton. Her friend Carla had said she would give her a tote bag, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the cell phone she gave her last year. April could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her blazer. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the butte. She would have to wear a swimsuit instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her smartwatch.
She walked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like licorice. Her dad was standing there with an oven mitt in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a blush.
"Hi Daddy!" April replied briskly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the duck a l'orange," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh garlic. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," April replied crazily. "Do we have the strawberry shortcake ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her father replied slyly. "It only has to grill for fifty-two minutes."
"Okay," April replied sourly. "I'm gonna go to the master bedroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some egg drop soup in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the master bedroom 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," April responded, as she sat down to her egg drop soup. "Let's hang lots of green balloons and cover the toilet and the ottoman with azure crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father smoothly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Tabitha Parker. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a chopstick."
"Help," April responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a smile. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."