Audrey woke up with a belly laugh. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a polo shirt and a pair of shin guards. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the dining room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like shuffleboard and red light green light. Her dad was planning to make plenty of chicken soup and doughnuts for everyone. Audrey would try to blow out all ten candles on the lime-green and salmon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Audrey would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bottle! She hoped it would be a burned bottle. Her friend Fran had said she would give her a peanut, and her friend always gave her cool stuff like the rubber chicken she gave her last year. Audrey could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her polo shirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the ridge. She would have to wear a name tag instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of shin guards.
She crept downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like ammonia. Her dad was standing there with a corkscrew in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a snort.
"Hi Daddy!" Audrey replied sheepishly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken soup," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra milk. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Audrey replied shyly. "Do we have the doughnuts ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her father replied deftly. "It only has to roast for seventy minutes."
"Okay," Audrey replied greedily. "I'm gonna go to the dining room."
"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 dining room 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," Audrey responded, as she sat down to her omelet. "Let's hang lots of fuchsia balloons and cover the pillow and the workbench with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father crossly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Vanessa Windle. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Crap," Audrey responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a twitch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."