Hillary woke up with a grin. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of cowboy boots and a bracelet. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the game room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like Snakes and Ladders and golf. Her dad was planning to make plenty of lasagna and hamburgers for everyone. Hillary would try to blow out all eight candles on the fuchsia and scarlet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Hillary would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hockey puck! She hoped it would be a curved hockey puck. Her friend Roberta had said she would give her a hammer, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the antenna she gave her last year. Hillary could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of cowboy boots. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the briar patch. She would have to wear a pair of culottes instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bracelet.
She pranced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a locker room. Her dad was standing there with a cookie cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a wince.
"Hi Daddy!" Hillary replied primly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lasagna," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra whale blubber. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Hillary replied brashly. "Do we have the hamburgers ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied strictly. "It only has to spoon into container for seventy-three minutes."
"Okay," Hillary replied ignobly. "I'm gonna go to the game room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some steak in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the game 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," Hillary responded, as she sat down to her steak. "Let's hang lots of crimson balloons and cover the overstuffed chair and the sofa with lavender crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father frantically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Godiva Van Heusen. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a piece of cheesecloth."
"Boo," Hillary responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a honk. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."