Edith woke up with a shiver. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a gladiator helmet and a pair of flip-flops. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the dining room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like tag and billiards. Her dad was planning to make plenty of bonbons and beef bouillon for everyone. Edith would try to blow out all twenty candles on the striped and rose cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Edith would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hammer! She hoped it would be a gaudy hammer. Her friend Penny had said she would give her a piece of candy, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the baseball she gave her last year. Edith could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a windstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her gladiator helmet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the veld. She would have to wear a pair of briefs instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of flip-flops.
She careened downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like anise. Her dad was standing there with a melon baller in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a honk.
"Hi Daddy!" Edith replied crankily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the bonbons," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra bananas. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Edith replied obediently. "Do we have the beef bouillon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her father replied delicately. "It only has to press for sixty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Edith replied frenetically. "I'm gonna go to the dining room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some hot dogs in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dining 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," Edith responded, as she sat down to her hot dogs. "Let's hang lots of mauve balloons and cover the coat rack and the bed with emerald green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father clumsily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Dinah Griebel. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"I've had it," Edith responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a titter. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."