Elaine woke up with a belch. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a suit and a belly button jewel. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the rec room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like chess and follow the leader. Her dad was planning to make plenty of lime sherbet and Cheerios for everyone. Elaine would try to blow out all twenty candles on the blue and silver cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Elaine would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a peanut! She hoped it would be a hand-carved peanut. Her friend Jacqueline had said she would give her a fishing pole, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the hot potato she gave her last year. Elaine could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drizzle was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the prairie. She would have to wear a raincoat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her belly button jewel.
She sprinted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fine perfume. Her dad was standing there with a grater in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a titter.
"Hi Daddy!" Elaine replied sleepily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lime sherbet," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra white beans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Elaine replied blissfully. "Do we have the Cheerios ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her father replied briskly. "It only has to sauté for fifty-two minutes."
"Okay," Elaine replied miserably. "I'm gonna go to the rec room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pot roast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the rec 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," Elaine responded, as she sat down to her pot roast. "Let's hang lots of sparkly balloons and cover the ottoman and the toilet with olive green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father testily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Ying Stine. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a foot."
"Woof," Elaine responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."