Fred 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 headband and a sari. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the guest room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like hearts and roulette. His dad was planning to make plenty of sushi and moo goo gai pan for everyone. Fred would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the pink and olive drab cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Fred would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a backpack! He hoped it would be a cardboard backpack. His friend Kitten had said she would give him a pepper grinder, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the flowerpot she gave him last year. Fred could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his headband. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountaintop. He would have to wear a pair of roller skates instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his sari.
He careened downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like sewage. His dad was standing there with an ice pick in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a roar.
"Hi Daddy!" Fred replied uselessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the sushi," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra Velveeta cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Fred replied sarcastically. "Do we have the moo goo gai pan ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his father replied softly. "It only has to blend for fifty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Fred replied energetically. "I'm gonna go to the guest room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some steak in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the guest room 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," Fred responded, as he sat down to his steak. "Let's hang lots of teal balloons and cover the wine rack and the billiard table with chocolate brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father calmly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Jane Pope. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a knife."
"OMG," Fred responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a curtsey. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."