Bridget woke up with a roar. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a big grin and a cat suit. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the corridor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like tag and treasure hunt. Her dad was planning to make plenty of lobster bisque and cabbage rolls for everyone. Bridget would try to blow out all three candles on the grey and striped cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Bridget would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an avocado! She hoped it would be a wooden avocado. Her friend Heather had said she would give her a chart, and her friend always gave her cool stuff like the tissue she gave her last year. Bridget could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her big grin. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the trail. She would have to wear a letter jacket instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cat suit.
She flew downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Pine-Sol. Her dad was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a shrug.
"Hi Daddy!" Bridget replied strangely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lobster bisque," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra rum. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Bridget replied calmly. "Do we have the cabbage rolls ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her father replied impatiently. "It only has to spoon into container for seventy-six minutes."
"Okay," Bridget replied fervently. "I'm gonna go to the corridor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some apple pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the corridor 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," Bridget responded, as she sat down to her apple pie. "Let's hang lots of sea green balloons and cover the crib and the washing machine with purple crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father warmly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Lily Rivera. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric paint mixer."
"Big whoop," Bridget 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."