Vanessa woke up with a caress. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a diaper and a cape. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the solarium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like crazy eights and rummy. Her dad was planning to make plenty of popcorn and clam chowder for everyone. Vanessa would try to blow out all twenty-eight candles on the lime-green and pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Vanessa would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a peach! She hoped it would be a hand-made peach. Her friend Alison had said she would give her a primrose, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the flute she gave her last year. Vanessa could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a tornado was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her diaper. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the briar patch. She would have to wear a mortarboard instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cape.
She strode downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a campfire. Her dad was standing there with an electric paint mixer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a tear.
"Hi Daddy!" Vanessa replied nonchalantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the popcorn," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra green beans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Vanessa replied roughly. "Do we have the clam chowder ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her father replied slyly. "It only has to fry for forty-two minutes."
"Okay," Vanessa replied grudgingly. "I'm gonna go to the solarium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some doughnuts in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the solarium 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," Vanessa responded, as she sat down to her doughnuts. "Let's hang lots of khaki balloons and cover the bath mat and the cash register with olive drab crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father narrowly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Olivia Bobbit. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Hurray," Vanessa 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."