Magnolia woke up with a hiccup. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of booties and a wedding dress. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the salon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Candy Land and baseball. Her dad was planning to make plenty of roast Cornish game hen and hors d'oeuvre for everyone. Magnolia would try to blow out all seven candles on the lime-green and teal cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Magnolia would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a joint! She hoped it would be a synthetic joint. Her friend Elsie had said she would give her a hockey puck, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the barbell she gave her last year. Magnolia could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pelting rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of booties. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the plain. She would have to wear a midi skirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her wedding dress.
She bounded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cigar smoke. Her dad was standing there with a ladle in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a clenched fist.
"Hi Daddy!" Magnolia replied stealthily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast Cornish game hen," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sourdough. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Magnolia replied pityingly. "Do we have the hors d'oeuvre ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied kindly. "It only has to heat for nine minutes."
"Okay," Magnolia replied sadly. "I'm gonna go to the salon."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pumpkin pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the salon 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," Magnolia responded, as she sat down to her pumpkin pie. "Let's hang lots of purple balloons and cover the fainting couch and the hope chest with violet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father flightily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Coleen Van Heusen. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a mixing spoon."
"Nuts," Magnolia responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a wink. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."