Dax 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 diaper and a flour sack. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the library was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited one of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like rummy and rummy. His dad was planning to make plenty of egg salad sandwich and potatoes and gravy for everyone. Dax would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the sparkly and rose cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Dax would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a roll of toilet paper! He hoped it would be a prickly roll of toilet paper. His friend So-Yeng had said she would give him a spoon, and his grandfather always gave him cool stuff like the bugle she gave him last year. Dax 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 diaper. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the hayfield. He would have to wear a pair of overalls instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his flour sack.
He pranced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rotten potatoes. His dad was standing there with an egg cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a flutter.
"Hi Daddy!" Dax replied blankly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg salad sandwich," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra eggs. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Dax replied lovingly. "Do we have the potatoes and gravy ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his father replied kindly. "It only has to sear for thirty-one minutes."
"Okay," Dax replied quickly. "I'm gonna go to the library."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some spaghetti in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the library 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," Dax responded, as he sat down to his spaghetti. "Let's hang lots of khaki balloons and cover the fainting couch and the bunk bed with green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father trustingly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Janice LaSalle. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a grater."
"Arrrgh," Dax responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with an air kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."