Klaus woke up with a bound. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a shawl and a hair net. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the tool shed was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like backgammon and shuffleboard. His dad was planning to make plenty of sweet potatoes and hot dogs for everyone. Klaus would try to blow out all eleven candles on the terra cotta and blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Klaus would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a deck of cards! He hoped it would be a torn deck of cards. His friend Lucille had said she would give him a Van Gogh, and his grandpa always gave him cool stuff like the teddy bear she gave him last year. Klaus could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his shawl. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the oasis. He would have to wear a necktie instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his hair net.
He slumped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like bleach. His dad was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a cackle.
"Hi Daddy!" Klaus replied silently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the sweet potatoes," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra corn syrup. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Klaus replied sagely. "Do we have the hot dogs ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his father replied nervously. "It only has to smoke for seventy minutes."
"Okay," Klaus replied flightily. "I'm gonna go to the tool shed."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pancakes in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the tool shed 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," Klaus responded, as he sat down to his pancakes. "Let's hang lots of yellow balloons and cover the washstand and the four-poster bed with fuchsia crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father tenderly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Nora Small. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dull knife."
"Aaack," Klaus responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a belch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."