Albert woke up with a fist bump. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a polo shirt and a wet suit. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the garage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like billiards and shuffleboard. His dad was planning to make plenty of dry toast and ceviche for everyone. Albert would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the aquamarine and rose cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Albert would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a paperclip! He hoped it would be a gruesome paperclip. His friend Rhoda had said she would give him a bouquet, and his mentor always gave him cool stuff like the piece of chalk she gave him last year. Albert 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 polo shirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the cliff. He would have to wear a pair of knickerbockers instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his wet suit.
He stalked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a chocolate factory. His dad was standing there with a melon baller in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a power fist.
"Hi Daddy!" Albert replied smoothly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the dry toast," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra rice noodles. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Albert replied strangely. "Do we have the ceviche ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his father replied strangely. "It only has to slow cook for sixteen minutes."
"Okay," Albert replied numbly. "I'm gonna go to the garage."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some French fries in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the garage 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," Albert responded, as he sat down to his French fries. "Let's hang lots of orange balloons and cover the coffee table and the catbird seat with tan crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father intensely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Regina Spangler. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric paint mixer."
"Whoa," Albert responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a squint. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."