Lars woke up with a hug. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a bathrobe and a stovepipe hat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the pool room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like Mother May I and treasure hunt. His dad was planning to make plenty of hors d'oeuvre and sushi for everyone. Lars would try to blow out all eleven candles on the maroon and burgundy cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lars would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pack of gum! He hoped it would be a hideous pack of gum. His friend Susan had said she would give him a bell, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the suitcase she gave him last year. Lars could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his bathrobe. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the park. He would have to wear a winter coat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his stovepipe hat.
He ambled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like marijuana. His dad was standing there with an egg cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a snicker.
"Hi Daddy!" Lars replied fiercely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hors d'oeuvre," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra orange juice. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lars replied breathlessly. "Do we have the sushi ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his father replied wildly. "It only has to sauté for twenty minutes."
"Okay," Lars replied languidly. "I'm gonna go to the pool room."
"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 pool 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," Lars responded, as he sat down to his chicken gumbo. "Let's hang lots of striped balloons and cover the pedestal and the safe with olive drab crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father tenderly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Bethany Holiday. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an egg cutter."
"Shoo," Lars responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a sigh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."