Gilmo woke up with a smile. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a garland and a feather boa. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like doctor and seven-up. His dad was planning to make plenty of hot dogs and lasagna for everyone. Gilmo would try to blow out all three candles on the brilliant orange and peach cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Gilmo would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fingernail clipper! He hoped it would be a bizarre fingernail clipper. His friend Belle had said she would give him a paper bag, and his sister-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the Egyptian mummy she gave him last year. Gilmo could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a thunderstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his garland. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the lakeside. He would have to wear a tailcoat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his feather boa.
He barrelled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like tacos. His dad was standing there with a sharp knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a snigger.
"Hi Daddy!" Gilmo replied fearfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hot dogs," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra honey. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Gilmo replied positively. "Do we have the lasagna ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," his father replied hastily. "It only has to scramble for thirty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Gilmo replied fervently. "I'm gonna go to the bedroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some refried beans in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the bedroom first?" he begged.
"It looks just like it always does," his father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Gilmo responded, as he sat down to his refried beans. "Let's hang lots of striped balloons and cover the bar stool and the bookcase with blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father frantically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Meg Snigglefritz. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an egg cutter."
"Aha," Gilmo responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a hoot. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."