Eduardo woke up with a laugh. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a ponytail and a pair of shorts. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the front porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like poker and hearts. His dad was planning to make plenty of pancakes and spaghetti for everyone. Eduardo would try to blow out all thirty-five candles on the grey and green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Eduardo would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a church key! He hoped it would be an autographed church key. His friend Shandra had said she would give him a lollipop, and his fiancée always gave him cool stuff like the hubcap she gave him last year. Eduardo could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pall of doom was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his ponytail. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the neighborhood. He would have to wear a helmet instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of shorts.
He ran downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like caramel corn. His dad was standing there with a turkey baster in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a smile.
"Hi Daddy!" Eduardo replied testily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pancakes," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra habañero peppers. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Eduardo replied busily. "Do we have the spaghetti ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his father replied effortlessly. "It only has to smoke for fifty-six minutes."
"Okay," Eduardo replied breathlessly. "I'm gonna go to the front porch."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some sushi 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," Eduardo responded, as he sat down to his sushi. "Let's hang lots of blue balloons and cover the rug and the buffet with white crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father excitedly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Oona Hill. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a mixing spoon."
"Roger," Eduardo responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a grin. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."