Barnabas 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 moustache and a gas mask. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the patio was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like pool and red rover. His dad was planning to make plenty of brownies and chicken pot pie for everyone. Barnabas would try to blow out all fifteen candles on the rose and sea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Barnabas would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a padlock! He hoped it would be a papery padlock. His friend Victoria had said she would give him a coffee pot, and his mentor always gave him cool stuff like the Egyptian mummy she gave him last year. Barnabas could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hailstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his moustache. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the forest. He would have to wear a hearing aid instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his gas mask.
He scooted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like maple syrup. His dad was standing there with an electric mixer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a furrowed brow.
"Hi Daddy!" Barnabas replied dubiously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the brownies," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra calamari. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Barnabas replied excitedly. "Do we have the chicken pot pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his father replied joyously. "It only has to freeze for three minutes."
"Okay," Barnabas replied speedily. "I'm gonna go to the patio."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cornbread in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the patio 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," Barnabas responded, as he sat down to his cornbread. "Let's hang lots of navy blue balloons and cover the piano and the couch with aqua crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father woodenly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Henrietta Craft. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a wooden spoon."
"Aw," Barnabas responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a hoot. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."