Sam woke up with a pound of the chest. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a bowler hat and a pocket watch. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the hall was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like shuffleboard and Russian roulette. His dad was planning to make plenty of egg drop soup and pecan pie for everyone. Sam would try to blow out all twenty-seven candles on the crimson and salmon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Sam would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cigarette lighter! He hoped it would be a shiny cigarette lighter. His friend Merna had said she would give him a smart phone, and his dad always gave him cool stuff like the duffel bag she gave him last year. Sam could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his bowler hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountaintop. He would have to wear a pair of UGGs instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pocket watch.
He rolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a stable. His dad was standing there with a spatula in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with an evil eye.
"Hi Daddy!" Sam replied nonchalantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg drop soup," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra salmon. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Sam replied craftily. "Do we have the pecan pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his father replied impatiently. "It only has to fry innocently in fancy skillet for eighty-five minutes."
"Okay," Sam replied sheepishly. "I'm gonna go to the hall."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some prune pudding in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the hall 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," Sam responded, as he sat down to his prune pudding. "Let's hang lots of ivory balloons and cover the couch and the file cabinet with jet black crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father crossly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Delores Silva. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a whisk."
"Aaaw," Sam responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a death glare. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."