Kurt 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 sandals and a tunic. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the parlor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like jump rope and Scrabble. His dad was planning to make plenty of chicken gumbo and oatmeal for everyone. Kurt would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the camouflage and pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kurt would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a business card! He hoped it would be a rigid business card. His friend Debbie had said she would give him a Bunsen burner, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the peanut she gave him last year. Kurt could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sandstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of sandals. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the treetop. He would have to wear a pair of moccasins instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his tunic.
He loped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Estée Lauder. His dad was standing there with a cookie cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a coo.
"Hi Daddy!" Kurt replied unexpectedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken gumbo," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra milk. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kurt replied patiently. "Do we have the oatmeal ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his father replied frantically. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for six minutes."
"Okay," Kurt replied offhandedly. "I'm gonna go to the parlor."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some popcorn in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the parlor 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," Kurt responded, as he sat down to his popcorn. "Let's hang lots of pea green balloons and cover the safe and the dishwasher with polka dotted crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father courageously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Marvella Friezbergen. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"What the devil," Kurt responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a hiccup. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."