Kirby woke up with a face palm. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of knickers and a belly button jewel. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the boudoir was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like rummy and dominos. His dad was planning to make plenty of lime sherbet and pretzels for everyone. Kirby would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the orange and yellow cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kirby would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a tube of glue! He hoped it would be a large tube of glue. His friend Cindy had said she would give him a hot potato, and his grandfather always gave him cool stuff like the clock she gave him last year. Kirby 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 pair of knickers. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the river. He would have to wear a big smile instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his belly button jewel.
He trotted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like moth balls. His dad was standing there with a wooden spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a bound.
"Hi Daddy!" Kirby replied ingeniously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lime sherbet," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra kidney beans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kirby replied stealthily. "Do we have the pretzels ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his father replied frantically. "It only has to age for seventy-nine minutes."
"Okay," Kirby replied fearlessly. "I'm gonna go to the boudoir."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some hash in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boudoir 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," Kirby responded, as he sat down to his hash. "Let's hang lots of scarlet balloons and cover the couch and the hatstand with khaki crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father angrily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Morgan Lowry. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a bare foot."
"Who says?," Kirby responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a guffaw. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."