Sanjay woke up with a backward glance. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of bell-bottoms and a pair of bell-bottoms. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the parlor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited four of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like volleyball and hopscotch. His dad was planning to make plenty of strawberry shortcake and cabbage rolls for everyone. Sanjay would try to blow out all eight candles on the black and camouflage cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Sanjay would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bird feeder! He hoped it would be a hand-carved bird feeder. His friend Jodene had said she would give him a dart, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the tote bag she gave him last year. Sanjay could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of bell-bottoms. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountainside. He would have to wear a Panama hat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of bell-bottoms.
He waded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like turpentine. His dad was standing there with a dish cloth in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a snort.
"Hi Daddy!" Sanjay replied uneasily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the strawberry shortcake," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sweet pickles. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Sanjay replied unnaturally. "Do we have the cabbage rolls ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his father replied woodenly. "It only has to grill for seventy-eight minutes."
"Okay," Sanjay replied blankly. "I'm gonna go to the parlor."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some oyster on the half-shell in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the parlor 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," Sanjay responded, as he sat down to his oyster on the half-shell. "Let's hang lots of silver balloons and cover the pillow and the ping-pong table with striped crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father charmingly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Sierra Oglesby. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"Goodness," Sanjay responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a sneer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."