Lauren woke up with a snarl. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in an Armani suit and a bodysuit. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the outhouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like ring around the rosie and blackjack. His dad was planning to make plenty of chocolate-covered ants and roast turkey for everyone. Lauren would try to blow out all nine candles on the blue and navy blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lauren would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pair of pliers! He hoped it would be a plain pair of pliers. His friend Kelly had said she would give him a comic book, and his mother-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the model airplane she gave him last year. Lauren could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a tornado was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his Armani suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the backyard. He would have to wear a bowler hat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bodysuit.
He traipsed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like baking cookies. His dad was standing there with a pastry blender in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a snuffle.
"Hi Daddy!" Lauren replied obediently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chocolate-covered ants," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra chicken. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lauren replied glibly. "Do we have the roast turkey ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his father replied urgently. "It only has to arrange for sixty minutes."
"Okay," Lauren replied wildly. "I'm gonna go to the outhouse."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken chow mein in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the outhouse 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," Lauren responded, as he sat down to his chicken chow mein. "Let's hang lots of jade balloons and cover the china hutch and the bed with peach crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father majestically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Olga Marchetti. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an egg cutter."
"Blecch," Lauren 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."