Vince woke up with a flutter. 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 set of scrubs. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like solitaire and rummy. His dad was planning to make plenty of omelet and ice cream for everyone. Vince would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the lavender and carrot-orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Vince would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a paper towel! He hoped it would be a fuzzy paper towel. His friend Vicki had said she would give him a dart, and his mother always gave him cool stuff like the stuffed kitten she gave him last year. Vince could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather 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 meadow. He would have to wear a necktie instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his set of scrubs.
He swaggered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like lilies. His dad was standing there with a dull knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a wink.
"Hi Daddy!" Vince replied awkwardly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the omelet," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra yogurt. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Vince replied sternly. "Do we have the ice cream ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his father replied wearily. "It only has to mix menacingly for forty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Vince replied bitterly. "I'm gonna go to the porch."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some prime rib in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the porch 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," Vince responded, as he sat down to his prime rib. "Let's hang lots of chartreuse balloons and cover the display case and the nightstand with silver crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father caustically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Dusty Eriksson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a blender."
"Bowwow," Vince responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a death glare. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."