Rick woke up with a wink. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a mask and a sundress. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the atrium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-one of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Russian roulette and Candy Land. His dad was planning to make plenty of lobster and falafel for everyone. Rick would try to blow out all eight candles on the carrot-orange and violet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Rick would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pepper grinder! He hoped it would be a colossal pepper grinder. His friend Helen had said she would give him a vacuum cleaner, and his girlfriend always gave him cool stuff like the necklace she gave him last year. Rick could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pelting rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his mask. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the stream. He would have to wear a blouse instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his sundress.
He leapt downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like sautéed onions. His dad was standing there with a food processor in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a tear.
"Hi Daddy!" Rick replied grandly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lobster," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra garlic. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Rick replied positively. "Do we have the falafel ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his father replied confidently. "It only has to boil for seventy-two minutes."
"Okay," Rick replied nimbly. "I'm gonna go to the atrium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some blueberry pie 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," Rick responded, as he sat down to his blueberry pie. "Let's hang lots of beige balloons and cover the ping-pong table and the fainting couch with chocolate brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father wearily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Chelsea Keefe. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a strainer."
"Uh-oh," Rick responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a crow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."