Kurt woke up with a tear. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a mask and an evening gown. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the front porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like hearts and duck duck goose. His dad was planning to make plenty of cabbage and chopped liver for everyone. Kurt would try to blow out all fifteen candles on the purple and crimson cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kurt would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Big Gulp! He hoped it would be a flexible Big Gulp. His friend Mary had said she would give him a photograph, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the grease gun she gave him last year. Kurt 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 mask. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the hillside. He would have to wear a pair of safety glasses instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his evening gown.
He proceeded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Juicy Fruit gum. His dad was standing there with an ice pick in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a guffaw.
"Hi Daddy!" Kurt replied cruelly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cabbage," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra whipping cream. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kurt replied daintily. "Do we have the chopped liver ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his father replied speedily. "It only has to fry zestily in important skillet for forty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Kurt replied urgently. "I'm gonna go to the front porch."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some egg salad sandwich in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the front porch 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," Kurt responded, as he sat down to his egg salad sandwich. "Let's hang lots of striped balloons and cover the billiard table and the bed with metallic red crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father testily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Katherine Ortega. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dull knife."
"Goodness gracious," Kurt responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a flush. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."