Ace 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 thong and a beard. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the library was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like follow the leader and baseball. His dad was planning to make plenty of clam chowder and chicken pot pie for everyone. Ace would try to blow out all four candles on the golden and navy blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ace would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Band-aid! He hoped it would be a synthetic Band-aid. His friend Carla had said she would give him a crystal ball, and his mentor always gave him cool stuff like the Rubik's cube she gave him last year. Ace could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drizzle was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his thong. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the grassland. He would have to wear a beach towel instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his beard.
He whirled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Chanel. His dad was standing there with a spatula in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a snigger.
"Hi Daddy!" Ace replied solemnly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the clam chowder," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra celery seed. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ace replied warmly. "Do we have the chicken pot pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his father replied crazily. "It only has to fry for sixty-one minutes."
"Okay," Ace replied wildly. "I'm gonna go to the library."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some crab rangoon in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the library 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," Ace responded, as he sat down to his crab rangoon. "Let's hang lots of grey balloons and cover the stairway and the safe with orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father madly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Wanda Parker. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a knife."
"Beats me," Ace responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snuffle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."