Elijah woke up with a shrug. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a visor and a visor. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the corridor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like cribbage and poker. His dad was planning to make plenty of cornbread and cotton candy for everyone. Elijah would try to blow out all four candles on the chocolate brown and magenta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Elijah would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a tissue! He hoped it would be a sleek tissue. His friend Esther had said she would give him a bone, and his grandpa always gave him cool stuff like the coat check ticket she gave him last year. Elijah 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 visor. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the hayfield. He would have to wear a ponytail instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his visor.
He swung downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a chocolate factory. His dad was standing there with a dull knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a hoot.
"Hi Daddy!" Elijah replied flightily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cornbread," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra thinly sliced radishes. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Elijah replied slyly. "Do we have the cotton candy ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his father replied gracefully. "It only has to spoon into container for thirty-three minutes."
"Okay," Elijah replied temperamentally. "I'm gonna go to the corridor."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lamb curry in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the corridor 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," Elijah responded, as he sat down to his lamb curry. "Let's hang lots of orange balloons and cover the crib and the wine rack with olive green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father crossly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Lorna Hoffa. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a fork."
"Beshrew me," Elijah responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a sneeze. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."