Jen woke up with a wrinkled nose. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bib and a gladiator helmet. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like Clue and billiards. Her dad was planning to make plenty of hot dogs and sweet potatoes for everyone. Jen would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the ivory and periwinkle cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jen would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a balloon! She hoped it would be an archaic balloon. Her friend Gertrude had said she would give her a piano, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the baseball she gave her last year. Jen could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bib. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the lagoon. She would have to wear a pair of combat boots instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her gladiator helmet.
She crawled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like freshly cut grass. Her dad was standing there with a spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a guffaw.
"Hi Daddy!" Jen replied numbly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hot dogs," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra apple slices. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jen replied breathlessly. "Do we have the sweet potatoes ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her father replied energetically. "It only has to bake at 450 degrees F for nine minutes."
"Okay," Jen replied lickety-split. "I'm gonna go to the porch."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some beans in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the 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," Jen responded, as she sat down to her beans. "Let's hang lots of grey balloons and cover the card table and the rug with violet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father angrily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Krystal Kuta. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a slotted spoon."
"Aaah," Jen responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a hug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."