Nathaniel woke up with a fist bump. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of dentures and a sari. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like solitaire and red light green light. His dad was planning to make plenty of dry toast and enchiladas for everyone. Nathaniel would try to blow out all two candles on the scarlet and pea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Nathaniel would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a blank check! He hoped it would be a dirty blank check. His friend Gilda had said she would give him a bag of groceries, and his mother-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the bag of groceries she gave him last year. Nathaniel could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of dentures. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the buffalo wallow. He would have to wear a heavy layer of makeup instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his sari.
He strolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like spearmint. His dad was standing there with a corkscrew in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a cackle.
"Hi Daddy!" Nathaniel replied tensely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the dry toast," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra beer. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Nathaniel replied gleefully. "Do we have the enchiladas ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his father replied stealthily. "It only has to microwave for seventy-nine minutes."
"Okay," Nathaniel replied anxiously. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some beef bouillon in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the living 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," Nathaniel responded, as he sat down to his beef bouillon. "Let's hang lots of khaki balloons and cover the bookcase and the wine rack with brilliant orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father needlessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Belle Kissling. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Gesundheit," Nathaniel responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a coo. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."