Garth woke up with a flinch. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a business suit and a ring. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the atrium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like golf and charades. His dad was planning to make plenty of ham and roast Cornish game hen for everyone. Garth would try to blow out all three candles on the turquoise and salmon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Garth would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bat! He hoped it would be a thick bat. His friend Deena had said she would give him a pair of fuzzy dice, and his mother always gave him cool stuff like the Egyptian mummy she gave him last year. Garth could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a snowstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his business suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the gully. He would have to wear a pair of galoshes instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his ring.
He leapt downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like grapefruit. His dad was standing there with a pair of tongs in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a wince.
"Hi Daddy!" Garth replied gingerly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ham," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra barbecue sauce. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Garth replied silently. "Do we have the roast Cornish game hen ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his father replied surreptitiously. "It only has to deep fry for seventy minutes."
"Okay," Garth replied arrogantly. "I'm gonna go to the atrium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some French fries in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the atrium 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," Garth responded, as he sat down to his French fries. "Let's hang lots of green balloons and cover the bench and the bookcase with peach crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father stealthily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Teresa Brinkman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat tenderizer."
"Ha," Garth responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a hug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."