Dinah woke up with a pout. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a big grin and a garland. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the dining room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like musical chairs and badminton. Her dad was planning to make plenty of jambalaya and hash for everyone. Dinah would try to blow out all eleven candles on the metallic red and metallic red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Dinah would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a padlock! She hoped it would be a jagged padlock. Her friend Motormouth had said she would give her a hacksaw, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the fire hose she gave her last year. Dinah 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 big grin. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the cave. She would have to wear a pair of cargo pants instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her garland.
She waddled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like tobacco. Her dad was standing there with a dull knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a simper.
"Hi Daddy!" Dinah replied hastily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the jambalaya," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra chili powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Dinah replied tearfully. "Do we have the hash ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her father replied uneasily. "It only has to allow to rise in warm place for several hours for fifty-three minutes."
"Okay," Dinah replied unnaturally. "I'm gonna go to the dining room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fish and chips 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," Dinah responded, as she sat down to her fish and chips. "Let's hang lots of tan balloons and cover the end table and the filing cabinet with indigo crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father sternly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Sheila McDonald. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a ladle."
"Whoopee," Dinah responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a sneeze. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."