Giovanni woke up with a yawn. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of culottes and a sarong. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the basement was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Clue and volleyball. His dad was planning to make plenty of tortillas and pancakes for everyone. Giovanni would try to blow out all twenty-one candles on the brilliant orange and chocolate brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Giovanni would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a candy bar! He hoped it would be a mechanical candy bar. His friend Magnolia had said she would give him a pearl, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the piece of candy she gave him last year. Giovanni 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 pair of culottes. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the island. He would have to wear a tam o'shanter instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his sarong.
He loped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like gardenias. His dad was standing there with an oven mitt in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a pout.
"Hi Daddy!" Giovanni replied needlessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tortillas," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Giovanni replied brashly. "Do we have the pancakes ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his father replied uselessly. "It only has to scramble for fifty minutes."
"Okay," Giovanni replied patiently. "I'm gonna go to the basement."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some prune pudding in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the basement 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," Giovanni responded, as he sat down to his prune pudding. "Let's hang lots of amber balloons and cover the china cabinet and the overstuffed chair with olive drab crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father excitedly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Loretta Phillips. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"Doggone," Giovanni responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a smack. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."