Dani woke up with a frown. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a garland and a jumper. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the parlor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited one of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like rummy and billiards. Her dad was planning to make plenty of dry toast and tuna casserole for everyone. Dani would try to blow out all thirty-five candles on the fuchsia and azure cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Dani would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a coin! She hoped it would be a dry coin. Her friend Oona had said she would give her a bouquet, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the corsage she gave her last year. Dani could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a lightning storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her garland. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the oasis. She would have to wear a sombrero instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her jumper.
She sneaked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a laundry. Her dad was standing there with a meat thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a glare.
"Hi Daddy!" Dani replied demurely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the dry toast," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sour cream. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Dani replied craftily. "Do we have the tuna casserole ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her father replied rapidly. "It only has to sear outside for sixty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Dani replied slyly. "I'm gonna go to the parlor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some omelet in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the parlor 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," Dani responded, as she sat down to her omelet. "Let's hang lots of orange balloons and cover the safe and the four-poster bed with sea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father speedily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, LaDonna Craven. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a blender."
"Nonsense," Dani responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a finger gun. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."