Elmer woke up with a caress. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a diamond necklace and a pair of sweatpants. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the billiard room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like Clue and follow the leader. His dad was planning to make plenty of pizza and lime sherbet for everyone. Elmer would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the purple and peach cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Elmer would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bagpipe! He hoped it would be an electric bagpipe. His friend Louise had said she would give him a magnet, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the package she gave him last year. Elmer could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his diamond necklace. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountainside. He would have to wear a toupee instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of sweatpants.
He strolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like old books. His dad was standing there with a candy thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a jeer.
"Hi Daddy!" Elmer replied wildly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pizza," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra curry powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Elmer replied wryly. "Do we have the lime sherbet ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his father replied grandly. "It only has to sear for sixty-two minutes."
"Okay," Elmer replied brashly. "I'm gonna go to the billiard room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some dirty rice in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the billiard 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," Elmer responded, as he sat down to his dirty rice. "Let's hang lots of brown balloons and cover the washstand and the sofa with brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father majestically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Jill Kinstler. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cookie cutter."
"Beats me," Elmer 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."