Chuck woke up with a jeer. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a set of vampire fangs and a false moustache. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the family room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like dodge ball and tag. His dad was planning to make plenty of chopped liver and roast turkey for everyone. Chuck would try to blow out all twenty-three candles on the black and olive green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Chuck would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a wrench! He hoped it would be a damaged wrench. His friend Cinderella had said she would give him a contract, and his mentor always gave him cool stuff like the pot she gave him last year. Chuck could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his set of vampire fangs. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the grassland. He would have to wear a diamond necklace instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his false moustache.
He stormed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a barnyard. His dad was standing there with a sharp knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a death glare.
"Hi Daddy!" Chuck replied boldly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chopped liver," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pepper. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Chuck replied merrily. "Do we have the roast turkey ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his father replied elatedly. "It only has to allow to rise in warm place for several hours for sixty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Chuck replied deliberately. "I'm gonna go to the family room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pie a la mode in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the family room 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," Chuck responded, as he sat down to his pie a la mode. "Let's hang lots of yellow balloons and cover the cupboard and the beanbag chair with olive green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father blissfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Anne Sitzman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a chopstick."
"Nice," Chuck responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a cheer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."