Elsa woke up with an air kiss. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a mask and a set of dentures. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like battleship and musical chairs. Her dad was planning to make plenty of catfish stew and roast beef for everyone. Elsa would try to blow out all five candles on the beige and aqua cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Elsa would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a muffin! She hoped it would be a delicate muffin. Her friend Hayley had said she would give her a pair of knitting needles, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the playing card she gave her last year. Elsa could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drizzle was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her mask. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the country meadow. She would have to wear a hood instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her set of dentures.
She whirled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fruit. Her dad was standing there with a dish cloth in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a honk.
"Hi Daddy!" Elsa replied lightly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the catfish stew," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra minced onion. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Elsa replied brightly. "Do we have the roast beef ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her father replied nicely. "It only has to fry cunningly in dry skillet for fifty-six minutes."
"Okay," Elsa replied zestily. "I'm gonna go to the closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some wienerschnitzel in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the closet 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," Elsa responded, as she sat down to her wienerschnitzel. "Let's hang lots of orange balloons and cover the canopy bed and the carpet with metallic red crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father shakily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Belle Killeen. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a whisk."
"Please," Elsa responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a twitch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."