Darin woke up with a tear. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a nightgown and a jacket. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the laundry room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like chess and checkers. His dad was planning to make plenty of crumb cake and roast Cornish game hen for everyone. Darin would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the aqua and aqua cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Darin would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bugle! He hoped it would be a well worn bugle. His friend Pam had said she would give him a stopwatch, and his mom always gave him cool stuff like the trumpet she gave him last year. Darin could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a lightning storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his nightgown. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the beach. He would have to wear a balaclava instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his jacket.
He sprinted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like peanut butter. His dad was standing there with a chopstick in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a beam.
"Hi Daddy!" Darin replied jokingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the crumb cake," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sugar. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Darin replied valiantly. "Do we have the roast Cornish game hen ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his father replied diligently. "It only has to roast for sixty-four minutes."
"Okay," Darin replied clumsily. "I'm gonna go to the laundry room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some hash in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the laundry 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," Darin responded, as he sat down to his hash. "Let's hang lots of grey balloons and cover the pillow and the pillow with magenta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father victoriously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Mia Curie. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a strainer."
"Gosh darn," Darin responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a coo. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."