Roscoe woke up with a sniff. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a bow tie and a set of scrubs. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the parlor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited sixteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like Candy Land and Clue. His dad was planning to make plenty of ravioli and apple pie for everyone. Roscoe would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the olive green and grey cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Roscoe would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pearl! He hoped it would be a waxy pearl. His friend Dinah had said she would give him a toy, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the Barbie doll she gave him last year. Roscoe could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his bow tie. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the swamp. He would have to wear a sweater instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his set of scrubs.
He went downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like dill pickles. His dad was standing there with a paring knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a belch.
"Hi Daddy!" Roscoe replied properly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ravioli," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra red lentils. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Roscoe replied pitifully. "Do we have the apple pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his father replied cleverly. "It only has to fry for sixty minutes."
"Okay," Roscoe replied joyously. "I'm gonna go to the parlor."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some apple pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the parlor 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," Roscoe responded, as he sat down to his apple pie. "Let's hang lots of jade balloons and cover the settee and the hope chest with teal crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father tensely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Rosie Fosbender. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a turkey baster."
"I'm so sure," Roscoe responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a belch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."