Dennis woke up with a chortle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of earrings and a burqa. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the pool room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like musical chairs and hopscotch. His dad was planning to make plenty of ice cream and pizza for everyone. Dennis would try to blow out all two candles on the chocolate brown and chocolate brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Dennis would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a whoopee cushion! He hoped it would be a coarse whoopee cushion. His friend Evette had said she would give him a key ring, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the pop bottle she gave him last year. Dennis could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of earrings. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountainside. He would have to wear a pair of false eyelashes instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his burqa.
He waltzed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like smoke. His dad was standing there with a dull knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a crow.
"Hi Daddy!" Dennis replied strangely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ice cream," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra chopped chives. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Dennis replied primly. "Do we have the pizza ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his father replied effortlessly. "It only has to toast for thirty-four minutes."
"Okay," Dennis replied delicately. "I'm gonna go to the pool room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast Cornish game hen in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pool 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," Dennis responded, as he sat down to his roast Cornish game hen. "Let's hang lots of metallic red balloons and cover the bar stool and the futon with teal crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father madly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Cheryl Van Bloom. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spatula."
"Feh," Dennis responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a sniff. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."