Deng woke up with a guffaw. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a kilt and a dunce cap. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like blackjack and tennis. His dad was planning to make plenty of chopped liver and mulligan stew for everyone. Deng would try to blow out all twenty-six candles on the polka dotted and olive drab cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Deng would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a chain! He hoped it would be a polka-dotted chain. His friend Brianna had said she would give him a chain, and his grandfather always gave him cool stuff like the campaign sign she gave him last year. Deng could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hailstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his kilt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the lagoon. He would have to wear a set of scrubs instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his dunce cap.
He slipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a wet dog. His dad was standing there with a meat thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a gasp.
"Hi Daddy!" Deng replied solemnly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chopped liver," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra lime Jell-O. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Deng replied victoriously. "Do we have the mulligan stew ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," his father replied brightly. "It only has to grill for thirty-four minutes."
"Okay," Deng replied briskly. "I'm gonna go to the closet."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some waffles in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the closet 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," Deng responded, as he sat down to his waffles. "Let's hang lots of azure balloons and cover the china cabinet and the umbrella stand with maroon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father silently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Scarlett Ferber. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a foot."
"Stoked," Deng responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a clenched fist. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."