Emma woke up with a sniffle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a uniform and a tailcoat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the conservatory was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like charades and Clue. Her dad was planning to make plenty of tortillas and fish and chips for everyone. Emma would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the olive green and yellow cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Emma would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a remote control! She hoped it would be a musty remote control. Her friend Penny had said she would give her a cactus plant, and her wife always gave her cool stuff like the package she gave her last year. Emma could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her uniform. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the field. She would have to wear a beehive instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her tailcoat.
She jogged downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fruit. Her dad was standing there with an oven mitt in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a finger gun.
"Hi Daddy!" Emma replied viciously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tortillas," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra roquefort cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Emma replied boisterously. "Do we have the fish and chips ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her father replied repeatedly. "It only has to sauté for fifty-six minutes."
"Okay," Emma replied boldly. "I'm gonna go to the conservatory."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some beef bouillon in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the conservatory 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," Emma responded, as she sat down to her beef bouillon. "Let's hang lots of white balloons and cover the hatstand and the TV with chocolate brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father majestically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Mama Elwood. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an egg cutter."
"Hush," Emma responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a flinch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."