Michaela woke up with a guffaw. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a cape and a pair of safety glasses. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the workshop was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like battleship and badminton. Her dad was planning to make plenty of pancakes and French fries for everyone. Michaela would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the sparkly and periwinkle cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Michaela would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a chess set! She hoped it would be a magnificent chess set. Her friend Ruth had said she would give her a skull, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the egg shell she gave her last year. Michaela 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 cape. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the lakeside. She would have to wear a pair of bloomers instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of safety glasses.
She slipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cloves. Her dad was standing there with a melon baller in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a glare.
"Hi Daddy!" Michaela replied ruefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pancakes," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra almond paste. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Michaela replied offhandedly. "Do we have the French fries ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her father replied resignedly. "It only has to whirl for fifty-four minutes."
"Okay," Michaela replied happily. "I'm gonna go to the workshop."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lobster bisque in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the workshop 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," Michaela responded, as she sat down to her lobster bisque. "Let's hang lots of periwinkle balloons and cover the coat rack and the pillow with lavender crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father quickly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Carmen Lancaster. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"Boo," Michaela responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a roar. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."