Nathan woke up with a hug. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a G-string and a beanie. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the dining room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like old maid and charades. His dad was planning to make plenty of ramen noodles and pecan pie for everyone. Nathan would try to blow out all two candles on the fuchsia and terra cotta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Nathan would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a piggy bank! He hoped it would be an archaic piggy bank. His friend Winnie had said she would give him a corncob, and his grandfather always gave him cool stuff like the dish she gave him last year. Nathan could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hailstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his G-string. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the rainforest. He would have to wear a tam o'shanter instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his beanie.
He tramped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a rose garden. His dad was standing there with a knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a honk.
"Hi Daddy!" Nathan replied nervously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ramen noodles," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra turkey. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Nathan replied neatly. "Do we have the pecan pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his father replied accidentally. "It only has to bake at 450 degrees F for thirty minutes."
"Okay," Nathan replied effortlessly. "I'm gonna go to the dining room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Hamburger Helper in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dining 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," Nathan responded, as he sat down to his Hamburger Helper. "Let's hang lots of indigo balloons and cover the futon and the bench with scarlet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father trustingly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Betty Woolsey. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"What the dickens," Nathan responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a raspberry. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."