Latrina woke up with a raised eyebrow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a fur coat and a bathrobe. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the attic was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like billiards and ring around the rosie. Her dad was planning to make plenty of cherries jubilee and tofu for everyone. Latrina would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the olive green and olive green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Latrina would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a yardstick! She hoped it would be a rare yardstick. Her friend Jeanne had said she would give her a duffel bag, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the pencil sharpener she gave her last year. Latrina could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a gale was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her fur coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the trail. She would have to wear an award medal instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bathrobe.
She tiptoed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like car exhaust. Her dad was standing there with a ladle in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a hug.
"Hi Daddy!" Latrina replied quickly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cherries jubilee," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sardines. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Latrina replied awkwardly. "Do we have the tofu ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her father replied busily. "It only has to age for nine minutes."
"Okay," Latrina replied demurely. "I'm gonna go to the attic."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some beef bouillon in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the attic 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," Latrina responded, as she sat down to her beef bouillon. "Let's hang lots of golden balloons and cover the chair and the dresser with orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father thankfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Brandie Cohen. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a blender."
"Adios," Latrina responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a grin. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."