Andrew woke up with a snuffle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a coonskin hat and a shirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like pool and hearts. His dad was planning to make plenty of blueberry pie and tortillas for everyone. Andrew would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the olive drab and green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Andrew would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hand puppet! He hoped it would be an old hand puppet. His friend Tara had said she would give him a Van Gogh, and his mom always gave him cool stuff like the cupcake she gave him last year. Andrew could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a thunderstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his coonskin hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the steppe. He would have to wear a bikini instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his shirt.
He sprinted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a candle shop. His dad was standing there with a piece of cheesecloth in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a fist bump.
"Hi Daddy!" Andrew replied clumsily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the blueberry pie," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra egg noodles. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Andrew replied majestically. "Do we have the tortillas ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his father replied cleverly. "It only has to broil for thirty-six minutes."
"Okay," Andrew replied lamely. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cookies in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the living 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," Andrew responded, as he sat down to his cookies. "Let's hang lots of amber balloons and cover the wine rack and the bath mat with amber crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father awkwardly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Huong Draney. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pastry blender."
"Uh-oh," Andrew responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a grimace. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."