Meg woke up with a kiss. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a black belt and a birthday suit. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the guest room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like jump rope and dominos. Her dad was planning to make plenty of chicken chow mein and lobster for everyone. Meg would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the carrot-orange and terra cotta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Meg would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bedpan! She hoped it would be a frilly bedpan. Her friend Clarisse had said she would give her a mousetrap, and her dad always gave her cool stuff like the ball she gave her last year. Meg could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her black belt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the rainforest. She would have to wear a camisole instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her birthday suit.
She scooted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like road kill. Her dad was standing there with a dish cloth in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a wince.
"Hi Daddy!" Meg replied happily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken chow mein," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh basil. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Meg replied numbly. "Do we have the lobster ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her father replied diligently. "It only has to whirl for eighty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Meg replied valiantly. "I'm gonna go to the guest room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chocolate-covered ants in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the guest 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," Meg responded, as she sat down to her chocolate-covered ants. "Let's hang lots of black balloons and cover the ping-pong table and the bunk bed with sparkly crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father coldly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Jolene Fields. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a mixing spoon."
"Blah," Meg responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snort. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."