Dusty woke up with a face palm. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a cocktail dress and an armband. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like Snakes and Ladders and Russian roulette. Her dad was planning to make plenty of ham and ravioli for everyone. Dusty would try to blow out all eleven candles on the chocolate brown and tan cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Dusty would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pair of dice! She hoped it would be a spongy pair of dice. Her friend Emmeline had said she would give her a vase, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the pink flamingo she gave her last year. Dusty could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dense fog was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her cocktail dress. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the pasture. She would have to wear a fez instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her armband.
She waddled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cinnamon rolls. Her dad was standing there with a sharp knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a grimace.
"Hi Daddy!" Dusty replied suspiciously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ham," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra orange peel. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Dusty replied bravely. "Do we have the ravioli ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her father replied dubiously. "It only has to heat in microwave for seventy-four minutes."
"Okay," Dusty replied irritably. "I'm gonna go to the bedroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some apple pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the 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," Dusty responded, as she sat down to her apple pie. "Let's hang lots of peach balloons and cover the armoire and the cushion with lime-green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father accidentally. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Ella Judd. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a mixing spoon."
"Ultimate," Dusty responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a bound. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."