Zed woke up with a glare. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a name tag and a business suit. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like cribbage and red light green light. His dad was planning to make plenty of fondue and smoked salmon for everyone. Zed would try to blow out all eight candles on the golden and turquoise cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Zed would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an antenna! He hoped it would be a sophisticated antenna. His friend Beverly had said she would give him a blank check, and his grandpa always gave him cool stuff like the radio she gave him last year. Zed could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his name tag. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the crime scene. He would have to wear a pair of trousers instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his business suit.
He scampered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like potpourri. His dad was standing there with a dull knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a kiss.
"Hi Daddy!" Zed replied accidentally. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fondue," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra yogurt. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Zed replied testily. "Do we have the smoked salmon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his father replied dreamily. "It only has to arrange for sixty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Zed replied victoriously. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some waffles in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the living 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," Zed responded, as he sat down to his waffles. "Let's hang lots of scarlet balloons and cover the desk and the nightstand with ivory crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father effortlessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Jacqueline Holiday. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat thermometer."
"Gosh," Zed responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a hiccup. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."