Marty woke up with a hoot. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a shirt and a helmet. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the guest room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like volleyball and Parcheesi. His dad was planning to make plenty of fried chicken and refried beans for everyone. Marty would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the navy blue and hot pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Marty would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pen! He hoped it would be a smelly pen. His friend Jeanne had said she would give him a can of beans, and his fiancée always gave him cool stuff like the baby doll she gave him last year. Marty could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his shirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the pond. He would have to wear a gown instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his helmet.
He trekked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a wet dog. His dad was standing there with a whisk in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a simper.
"Hi Daddy!" Marty replied solemnly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fried chicken," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra poppy seeds. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Marty replied primly. "Do we have the refried beans ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his father replied properly. "It only has to marinate for nineteen minutes."
"Okay," Marty replied patiently. "I'm gonna go to the guest room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast beef in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the guest 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," Marty responded, as he sat down to his roast beef. "Let's hang lots of maroon balloons and cover the cash register and the wine rack with white crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father breathlessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Winifred Hastings. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of chopsticks."
"Bless my britches," Marty responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a belly laugh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."