Grover woke up with a glare. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a jerkin and a kilt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the ballroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like duck duck goose and dominos. His dad was planning to make plenty of scrambled eggs and beans for everyone. Grover would try to blow out all four candles on the white and red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Grover would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a rope! He hoped it would be a magnificent rope. His friend Rhoda had said she would give him a football, and his girlfriend always gave him cool stuff like the lollipop she gave him last year. Grover could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a thunderstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his jerkin. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the stream. He would have to wear a burqa instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his kilt.
He set out downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pipe tobacco. His dad was standing there with an oven mitt in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a sneer.
"Hi Daddy!" Grover replied proudly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the scrambled eggs," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra canned oysters. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Grover replied surreptitiously. "Do we have the beans ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his father replied brightly. "It only has to blanch for forty-five minutes."
"Okay," Grover replied furiously. "I'm gonna go to the ballroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ice cream in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the ballroom 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," Grover responded, as he sat down to his ice cream. "Let's hang lots of khaki balloons and cover the dishwasher and the cupboard with orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father crazily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Jill Tiller. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a ladle."
"Holy cow," Grover responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a honk. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."