Gunther woke up with a raised eyebrow. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a bicycle helmet and a pair of panties. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like Mother May I and baseball. His dad was planning to make plenty of macaroni and strawberry shortcake for everyone. Gunther would try to blow out all eleven candles on the aqua and beige cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Gunther would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a blank check! He hoped it would be a puzzling blank check. His friend Mama had said she would give him a hat, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the camera she gave him last year. Gunther could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his bicycle helmet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the jungle. He would have to wear a diaper instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of panties.
He strolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Chanel. His dad was standing there with a grater in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a beam.
"Hi Daddy!" Gunther replied testily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the macaroni," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cracker crumbs. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Gunther replied sheepishly. "Do we have the strawberry shortcake ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his father replied bravely. "It only has to blend for four minutes."
"Okay," Gunther replied cautiously. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken gumbo in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the linen closet 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," Gunther responded, as he sat down to his chicken gumbo. "Let's hang lots of purple balloons and cover the workbench and the coat rack with sparkly crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father primly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Irma Ulster. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an egg cutter."
"Oh please," Gunther responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a guffaw. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."