Stuart woke up with a squint. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a skirt and a baseball cap. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the dungeon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eight of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like hearts and cribbage. His dad was planning to make plenty of hot dogs and banana split for everyone. Stuart would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the rose and hot pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Stuart would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a toy! He hoped it would be a smooth toy. His friend Elly had said she would give him a football, and his mom always gave him cool stuff like the pipe she gave him last year. Stuart could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his skirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the creek. He would have to wear a coat of mail instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his baseball cap.
He waltzed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a pig. His dad was standing there with an egg cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a cringe.
"Hi Daddy!" Stuart replied blissfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hot dogs," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra yogurt. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Stuart replied swiftly. "Do we have the banana split ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his father replied awkwardly. "It only has to sauté for sixty-five minutes."
"Okay," Stuart replied sheepishly. "I'm gonna go to the dungeon."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some succotash in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dungeon 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," Stuart responded, as he sat down to his succotash. "Let's hang lots of olive green balloons and cover the ironing board and the mattress with yellow crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father busily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Bianca Marchetti. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of tongs."
"Glaack," Stuart responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a flinch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."