Jerry woke up with a shiver. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a coat of mail and a baseball cap. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the atrium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like hide and seek and Rummy. His dad was planning to make plenty of ceviche and falafel for everyone. Jerry would try to blow out all twenty-six candles on the lavender and silver cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jerry would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hammer! He hoped it would be a crisp hammer. His friend Maggie had said she would give him a playing card, and his wife always gave him cool stuff like the coupon she gave him last year. Jerry could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his coat of mail. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the hayfield. He would have to wear a pair of suspenders instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his baseball cap.
He bolted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like marijuana. His dad was standing there with a sharp knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a pucker.
"Hi Daddy!" Jerry replied solemnly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ceviche," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra celery seed. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jerry replied thankfully. "Do we have the falafel ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his father replied queerly. "It only has to blanch for fifty-three minutes."
"Okay," Jerry replied dreamily. "I'm gonna go to the atrium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some hors d'oeuvre in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the atrium 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," Jerry responded, as he sat down to his hors d'oeuvre. "Let's hang lots of chartreuse balloons and cover the chest of drawers and the desk with lavender crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father happily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Shirley Cantrell. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a food processor."
"Tailfeathers," Jerry responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."