Kimberly woke up with a roar. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a corsage and a pair of ear muffs. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the doghouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like crazy eights and golf. Her dad was planning to make plenty of ramen noodles and pumpkin pie for everyone. Kimberly would try to blow out all twenty-three candles on the golden and teal cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kimberly would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pigeon! She hoped it would be a tiny pigeon. Her friend Leah had said she would give her a vase, and her wife always gave her cool stuff like the hair dryer she gave her last year. Kimberly could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her corsage. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the savanna. She would have to wear a girdle instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of ear muffs.
She sped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like curry. Her dad was standing there with a sharp knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a flush.
"Hi Daddy!" Kimberly replied innocently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ramen noodles," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cinnamon. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kimberly replied defiantly. "Do we have the pumpkin pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her father replied automatically. "It only has to braise for eighty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Kimberly replied fiercely. "I'm gonna go to the doghouse."
"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 doghouse 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," Kimberly responded, as she sat down to her doughnuts. "Let's hang lots of orange balloons and cover the hope chest and the couch with golden crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father lamely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Linda Nakamura. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a strainer."
"No no no," Kimberly responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a belly laugh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."