Malcolm woke up with a cheer. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a big smile and a suit. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the conservatory was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like trivia and old maid. His dad was planning to make plenty of Cheerios and omelet for everyone. Malcolm would try to blow out all eight candles on the sea green and chocolate brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Malcolm would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a magnifying glass! He hoped it would be a rusty magnifying glass. His friend Bernadette had said she would give him a picture, and his mother always gave him cool stuff like the magazine she gave him last year. Malcolm could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his big smile. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the badlands area. He would have to wear a corset instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his suit.
He jogged downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cheese. His dad was standing there with a mixing spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a raspberry.
"Hi Daddy!" Malcolm replied slyly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Cheerios," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra baker's chocolate. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Malcolm replied effortlessly. "Do we have the omelet ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his father replied doubtfully. "It only has to place on serving dish for eighty-five minutes."
"Okay," Malcolm replied deliberately. "I'm gonna go to the conservatory."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ice cream in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the conservatory 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," Malcolm responded, as he sat down to his ice cream. "Let's hang lots of khaki balloons and cover the mattress and the pedestal with sea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father hastily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Ying Wykes. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a mixing spoon."
"Encore," Malcolm responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a wag of the finger. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."