Julia woke up with a kiss. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pacifier and a girdle. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the auditorium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like volleyball and poker. Her dad was planning to make plenty of pot roast and ice cream for everyone. Julia would try to blow out all thirty candles on the amber and ivory cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Julia would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Barbie doll! She hoped it would be a new Barbie doll. Her friend Elaine had said she would give her a whoopee cushion, and her dad always gave her cool stuff like the trash can she gave her last year. Julia 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 pacifier. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the park. She would have to wear a bulletproof vest instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her girdle.
She flounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like tobacco. Her dad was standing there with a pair of tongs in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a belly laugh.
"Hi Daddy!" Julia replied cleverly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pot roast," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra parmesan cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Julia replied patiently. "Do we have the ice cream ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her father replied merrily. "It only has to blend for fifty-six minutes."
"Okay," Julia replied roughly. "I'm gonna go to the auditorium."
"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 auditorium 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," Julia responded, as she sat down to her doughnuts. "Let's hang lots of carrot-orange balloons and cover the wooden crate and the pool table with lime-green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father pitifully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Sheryl Burner. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a strainer."
"Never mind," Julia responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a raised eyebrow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."