Susan woke up with a wince. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a cloak and a pair of dungarees. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the solarium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like duck duck goose and billiards. Her dad was planning to make plenty of candy and fried chicken for everyone. Susan would try to blow out all three candles on the sea green and sparkly cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Susan would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a corsage! She hoped it would be a fluffy corsage. Her friend Mary had said she would give her a banjo, and her grandpa always gave her cool stuff like the sack of potatoes she gave her last year. Susan could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her cloak. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the mesa. She would have to wear a bustier instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of dungarees.
She zoomed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like smoked fish. Her dad was standing there with a dish cloth in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a smack.
"Hi Daddy!" Susan replied mysteriously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the candy," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra beef broth. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Susan replied hysterically. "Do we have the fried chicken ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her father replied blissfully. "It only has to fry for seventy-one minutes."
"Okay," Susan replied grudgingly. "I'm gonna go to the solarium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some prime rib in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the solarium 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," Susan responded, as she sat down to her prime rib. "Let's hang lots of white balloons and cover the ottoman and the hammock with camouflage crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father sweetly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Kaylee Weiss. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an oven mitt."
"Oh my word," Susan responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a finger gun. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."