Rob 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 turtleneck and a hood. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the parlor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like blackjack and cribbage. His dad was planning to make plenty of hash and fried chicken for everyone. Rob would try to blow out all twenty-three candles on the teal and magenta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Rob would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a dictionary! He hoped it would be a fuzzy dictionary. His friend Kathy had said she would give him a spittoon, and his aunt always gave him cool stuff like the bag of potato chips she gave him last year. Rob could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his turtleneck. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the island. He would have to wear a black belt instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his hood.
He zipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like bubble gum. His dad was standing there with an ice pick in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a wrinkled nose.
"Hi Daddy!" Rob replied peevishly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hash," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra almond paste. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Rob replied fondly. "Do we have the fried chicken ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his father replied cunningly. "It only has to shake for nineteen minutes."
"Okay," Rob replied lightly. "I'm gonna go to the parlor."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some jambalaya 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," Rob responded, as he sat down to his jambalaya. "Let's hang lots of aqua balloons and cover the dishwasher and the bathtub with red crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father suavely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Claudia Springer. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"Get outta here," Rob responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a tear. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."