Pam woke up with a raspberry. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a balaclava and a cat suit. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the front porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like tennis and Parcheesi. Her dad was planning to make plenty of cherries jubilee and candy for everyone. Pam would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the violet and ivory cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Pam would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a can of beer! She hoped it would be a tiny can of beer. Her friend Jasmine had said she would give her a stopwatch, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the church key she gave her last year. Pam could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her balaclava. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the peninsula. She would have to wear a gladiator helmet instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cat suit.
She whirled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a spring rain. Her dad was standing there with a spatula in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a coo.
"Hi Daddy!" Pam replied excitedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cherries jubilee," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pine nuts. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Pam replied nervously. "Do we have the candy ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her father replied briskly. "It only has to melt for forty-four minutes."
"Okay," Pam replied daintily. "I'm gonna go to the front porch."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some beef bouillon in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the front porch 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," Pam responded, as she sat down to her beef bouillon. "Let's hang lots of metallic red balloons and cover the billiard table and the chest of drawers with grey crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father gingerly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Cindy Nolan. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a whisk."
"Land's sakes," Pam responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a sigh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."