Andy woke up with a gurgle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a sundress and a tool belt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like marbles and volleyball. His dad was planning to make plenty of egg rolls and cookies for everyone. Andy would try to blow out all twenty-six candles on the lavender and polka dotted cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Andy would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a dollar bill! He hoped it would be a striking dollar bill. His friend Marjorie had said she would give him a mirror, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the blank check she gave him last year. Andy could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his sundress. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the range. He would have to wear a bowler hat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his tool belt.
He whirled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cigarette smoke. His dad was standing there with a meat tenderizer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a sigh.
"Hi Daddy!" Andy replied courteously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg rolls," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra whale blubber. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Andy replied fiercely. "Do we have the cookies ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his father replied arrogantly. "It only has to blend for seventy-three minutes."
"Okay," Andy replied obediently. "I'm gonna go to the porch."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some beef bouillon in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the porch 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," Andy responded, as he sat down to his beef bouillon. "Let's hang lots of sparkly balloons and cover the ping-pong table and the workbench with aquamarine crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father pityingly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Kate Trott. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a sharp knife."
"Wowsers," Andy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a smirk. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."