Samantha woke up with a snigger. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a tuxedo and a veil. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the billiard room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like checkers and Monopoly. Her dad was planning to make plenty of egg drop soup and Cheerios for everyone. Samantha would try to blow out all two candles on the emerald green and rose cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Samantha would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a saw! She hoped it would be a dry saw. Her friend Annabelle had said she would give her a comic book, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the shoe she gave her last year. Samantha 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 tuxedo. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the veld. She would have to wear a military uniform instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her veil.
She careened downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like roast turkey. Her dad was standing there with a napkin in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a furrowed brow.
"Hi Daddy!" Samantha replied warily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg drop soup," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra beef sirloin tips. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Samantha replied viciously. "Do we have the Cheerios ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her father replied caustically. "It only has to deep fry for seventy-seven minutes."
"Okay," Samantha replied uneasily. "I'm gonna go to the billiard room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some biscuits and gravy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the billiard 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," Samantha responded, as she sat down to her biscuits and gravy. "Let's hang lots of lavender balloons and cover the end table and the sofa with emerald green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father grudgingly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Shelley Weaver. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a paring knife."
"Holy moley," Samantha responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a gurgle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."