Patrick woke up with a clenched fist. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a uniform and a shirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the pool room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like leapfrog and marbles. His dad was planning to make plenty of ice cream and egg salad sandwich for everyone. Patrick would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the violet and polka dotted cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Patrick would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an Egyptian mummy! He hoped it would be a miniature Egyptian mummy. His friend Penelope had said she would give him a bottle of perfume, and his mom always gave him cool stuff like the necklace she gave him last year. Patrick could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his uniform. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the cesspool. He would have to wear a tinfoil hat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his shirt.
He skittered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like vanilla. His dad was standing there with a bare foot in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a cringe.
"Hi Daddy!" Patrick replied shakily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ice cream," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cucumber. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Patrick replied joyously. "Do we have the egg salad sandwich ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his father replied sorrowfully. "It only has to melt for eighty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Patrick replied blindly. "I'm gonna go to the pool room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chopped liver in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pool room 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," Patrick responded, as he sat down to his chopped liver. "Let's hang lots of lime-green balloons and cover the counter and the china hutch with pea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father uselessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Lucille Schreiber. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a foot."
"Anyhow," Patrick responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a belly laugh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."