Barnabas woke up with a wince. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in an 'I'm with Stupid' shirt and a blazer. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the salon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like old maid and Scrabble. His dad was planning to make plenty of cherries jubilee and cookies for everyone. Barnabas would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the teal and pea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Barnabas would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a flash drive! He hoped it would be a rancid flash drive. His friend Alexis had said she would give him a box of Kleenex, and his mentor always gave him cool stuff like the dollhouse she gave him last year. Barnabas could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blizzard was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his 'I'm with Stupid' shirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the oasis. He would have to wear a moustache instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his blazer.
He went downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like chocolate. His dad was standing there with a dull knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a growl.
"Hi Daddy!" Barnabas replied primly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cherries jubilee," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sardines. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Barnabas replied vacantly. "Do we have the cookies ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," his father replied warmly. "It only has to place on serving dish for thirty-two minutes."
"Okay," Barnabas replied tearfully. "I'm gonna go to the salon."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some scrambled eggs in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the salon 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," Barnabas responded, as he sat down to his scrambled eggs. "Let's hang lots of beige balloons and cover the stool and the couch with fuchsia crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father humbly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Pearl Eaton. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a strainer."
"For Pete's sake," Barnabas responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a raised eyebrow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."