Arnold woke up with a wrinkled nose. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a beard and a wedding dress. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the basement was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eleven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like charades and Mother May I. His dad was planning to make plenty of lamb curry and oyster on the half-shell for everyone. Arnold would try to blow out all seven candles on the pea green and black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Arnold would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a tennis racket! He hoped it would be an odd tennis racket. His friend Lorie had said she would give him a stapler, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the paperclip she gave him last year. Arnold could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his beard. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the arroyo. He would have to wear a hat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his wedding dress.
He marched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like jasmine. His dad was standing there with a potato masher in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a squint.
"Hi Daddy!" Arnold replied truculently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lamb curry," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra Jello. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Arnold replied obediently. "Do we have the oyster on the half-shell ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his father replied kindly. "It only has to poach lightly for eighty minutes."
"Okay," Arnold replied gracefully. "I'm gonna go to the basement."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some prime rib in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the basement 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," Arnold responded, as he sat down to his prime rib. "Let's hang lots of azure balloons and cover the pillow and the ottoman with golden crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father boisterously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Michelle Andrews. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a turkey baster."
"Be still, my beating heart," Arnold responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a gurgle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."