Gavin 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 gunny sack and a mortarboard. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the kitchen was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like ring around the rosie and rummy. His dad was planning to make plenty of tuna casserole and ham for everyone. Gavin would try to blow out all seven candles on the periwinkle and magenta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Gavin would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a teapot! He hoped it would be a ragged teapot. His friend Christina had said she would give him a microscope, and his sister-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the stamp she gave him last year. Gavin could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pelting rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his gunny sack. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the lakeside. He would have to wear a romper instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his mortarboard.
He jogged downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like burning rubber. His dad was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a squint.
"Hi Daddy!" Gavin replied offhandedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tuna casserole," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cornmeal. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Gavin replied again. "Do we have the ham ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his father replied wryly. "It only has to grill for twenty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Gavin replied impatiently. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fish and chips in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the kitchen 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," Gavin responded, as he sat down to his fish and chips. "Let's hang lots of orange balloons and cover the stool and the bunk bed with khaki crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father tenderly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Bethany Cleveland. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a foot."
"Stinkers," Gavin responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a wag of the finger. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."