Howard woke up with a belly laugh. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a cocktail dress and a pair of cycling shorts. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the rec room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like billiards and Monopoly. His dad was planning to make plenty of moo goo gai pan and chicken soup for everyone. Howard would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the salmon and green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Howard would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a button! He hoped it would be a slimy button. His friend Calista had said she would give him a computer, and his mother-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the magnet she gave him last year. Howard could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his cocktail dress. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the moonscape. He would have to wear a hearing aid instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of cycling shorts.
He straggled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pickles. His dad was standing there with a melon baller in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a gasp.
"Hi Daddy!" Howard replied ruefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the moo goo gai pan," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cracker crumbs. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Howard replied temperamentally. "Do we have the chicken soup ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his father replied immediately. "It only has to braise for twenty-five minutes."
"Okay," Howard replied lazily. "I'm gonna go to the rec room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some dry toast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the rec room 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," Howard responded, as he sat down to his dry toast. "Let's hang lots of yellow balloons and cover the dresser and the workbench with aquamarine crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father flightily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, April Espinoza. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Nice," Howard responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with an evil eye. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."