Hendrick woke up with a hoot. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a bowler hat and a wig. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the auditorium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like shuffleboard and marbles. His dad was planning to make plenty of cherries jubilee and pie a la mode for everyone. Hendrick would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the orange and striped cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Hendrick would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a box of Kleenex! He hoped it would be a rancid box of Kleenex. His friend Ida had said she would give him an artificial flower, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the flashlight she gave him last year. Hendrick 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 bowler hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the village. He would have to wear a tailcoat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his wig.
He crept downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Givenchy. His dad was standing there with a dull knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with an air kiss.
"Hi Daddy!" Hendrick replied queerly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cherries jubilee," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra chopped green pepper. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Hendrick replied quickly. "Do we have the pie a la mode ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his father replied properly. "It only has to spread into container for thirteen minutes."
"Okay," Hendrick replied daringly. "I'm gonna go to the auditorium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some prime rib in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the auditorium 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," Hendrick responded, as he sat down to his prime rib. "Let's hang lots of green balloons and cover the canopy bed and the hatstand with scarlet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father dolefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Marya MacGibbon. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat thermometer."
"Aaah," Hendrick responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a wink. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."