Winnie woke up with a crow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a uniform and a veil. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like Simon Says and golf. Her dad was planning to make plenty of roast Cornish game hen and scrambled eggs for everyone. Winnie would try to blow out all nine candles on the chartreuse and mauve cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Winnie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a barbell! She hoped it would be a cheap barbell. Her friend Ginger had said she would give her an accordion, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the feather she gave her last year. Winnie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blizzard 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 country meadow. She would have to wear a pocket watch instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her veil.
She staggered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like sautéed onions. Her dad was standing there with a cookie cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a caress.
"Hi Daddy!" Winnie replied narrowly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast Cornish game hen," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh parsley. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Winnie replied positively. "Do we have the scrambled eggs ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her father replied crazily. "It only has to spoon into container for five minutes."
"Okay," Winnie replied suspiciously. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some hot dogs in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the living 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," Winnie responded, as she sat down to her hot dogs. "Let's hang lots of forest green balloons and cover the casket and the bench with polka dotted crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father sternly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Penelope Blevins. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a foot."
"Whoa baby," Winnie 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."