Ron woke up with a raised eyebrow. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a hoodie and an award medal. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the pool room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like tag and marbles. His dad was planning to make plenty of mashed potatoes and cabbage rolls for everyone. Ron would try to blow out all two candles on the aqua and silver cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ron would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an orchid! He hoped it would be a narrow orchid. His friend Carmen had said she would give him a whistle, and his friend always gave him cool stuff like the Van Gogh she gave him last year. Ron could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his hoodie. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the forest. He would have to wear a cloak instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his award medal.
He skidded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like black pepper. His dad was standing there with a garlic press in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a fist bump.
"Hi Daddy!" Ron replied suddenly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mashed potatoes," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sour cream. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ron replied madly. "Do we have the cabbage rolls ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his father replied daintily. "It only has to simmer for thirty minutes."
"Okay," Ron replied flightily. "I'm gonna go to the pool room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cotton candy 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," Ron responded, as he sat down to his cotton candy. "Let's hang lots of emerald green balloons and cover the buffet and the display case with sea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father ingeniously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Tina Riley. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a ladle."
"Who says?," Ron responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snarl. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."