Kevin woke up with a raspberry. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a set of football pads and a pair of khakis. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Simon Says and Monopoly. His dad was planning to make plenty of Cheerios and apple pie for everyone. Kevin would try to blow out all five candles on the silver and olive green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kevin would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a yo-yo! He hoped it would be a striped yo-yo. His friend Patricia had said she would give him a picture, and his mother-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the curling iron she gave him last year. Kevin could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his set of football pads. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the cave. He would have to wear a skeleton costume instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of khakis.
He crawled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like tar. His dad was standing there with a food processor in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a gasp.
"Hi Daddy!" Kevin replied deliberately. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Cheerios," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra ground lamb. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kevin replied grandly. "Do we have the apple pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his father replied proudly. "It only has to freeze for two minutes."
"Okay," Kevin replied openly. "I'm gonna go to the closet."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cherries jubilee in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the closet 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," Kevin responded, as he sat down to his cherries jubilee. "Let's hang lots of silver balloons and cover the china hutch and the computer with forest green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father confidently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Marvella Boudreaux. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a food processor."
"Criminy," Kevin responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a backward glance. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."