Justin woke up with a pound of the chest. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of shoes and a babushka. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the ballroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited four of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like Monopoly and croquet. His dad was planning to make plenty of burritos and wienerschnitzel for everyone. Justin would try to blow out all twenty candles on the fuchsia and chocolate brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Justin would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a baseball! He hoped it would be a thick baseball. His friend Emma had said she would give him a screwdriver, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the calculator she gave him last year. Justin 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 pair of shoes. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the cornfield. He would have to wear a shirt instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his babushka.
He cantered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cookies. His dad was standing there with a pair of tongs in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a sniffle.
"Hi Daddy!" Justin replied warmly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the burritos," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra curry powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Justin replied fearlessly. "Do we have the wienerschnitzel ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his father replied fearlessly. "It only has to sear outside for eighty minutes."
"Okay," Justin replied cheerfully. "I'm gonna go to the ballroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some egg salad sandwich in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the ballroom 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," Justin responded, as he sat down to his egg salad sandwich. "Let's hang lots of lavender balloons and cover the bar stool and the catbird seat with golden crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father temperamentally. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Ida Keene. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a paring knife."
"Goodness gracious," Justin responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a belly laugh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."