Rufus woke up with a smile. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in an armband and a tuxedo. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the family room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like charades and croquet. His dad was planning to make plenty of egg salad sandwich and shrimp for everyone. Rufus would try to blow out all ten candles on the yellow and grey cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Rufus would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bouquet! He hoped it would be a frilly bouquet. His friend Pleasance had said she would give him a rubber stamp, and his aunt always gave him cool stuff like the candy bar she gave him last year. Rufus could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a thunderstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his armband. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the neighborhood. He would have to wear a fedora instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his tuxedo.
He loped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like an outhouse. His dad was standing there with a knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a kiss.
"Hi Daddy!" Rufus replied uneasily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg salad sandwich," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra mayonnaise. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Rufus replied courteously. "Do we have the shrimp ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his father replied glumly. "It only has to broil for twenty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Rufus replied dubiously. "I'm gonna go to the family room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tofu in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the family 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," Rufus responded, as he sat down to his tofu. "Let's hang lots of red balloons and cover the recliner and the washstand with polka dotted crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father fondly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Lillian Bartholomew. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"Ugh," Rufus responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a flinch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."