Bobby 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 babushka and a watch. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the dungeon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like Mother May I and crazy eights. His dad was planning to make plenty of scrambled eggs and fried okra for everyone. Bobby would try to blow out all twenty candles on the azure and blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Bobby would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pinwheel! He hoped it would be a ruined pinwheel. His friend Samantha had said she would give him a crutch, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the mushroom she gave him last year. Bobby could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his babushka. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the housing development. He would have to wear a maxi skirt instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his watch.
He sauntered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like incense. His dad was standing there with a dull knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a raised eyebrow.
"Hi Daddy!" Bobby replied fervently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the scrambled eggs," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pine nuts. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Bobby replied effortlessly. "Do we have the fried okra ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his father replied caustically. "It only has to slow cook for eighteen minutes."
"Okay," Bobby replied fondly. "I'm gonna go to the dungeon."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some macaroni in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dungeon 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," Bobby responded, as he sat down to his macaroni. "Let's hang lots of pink balloons and cover the rug and the bookshelf with lime-green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father accidentally. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Marissa Pham. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a knife."
"Heck," Bobby responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a titter. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."