Flash woke up with a dope slap. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a set of pink foam curlers and a bandana. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the laundry room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like red rover and billiards. His dad was planning to make plenty of brownies and chicken pot pie for everyone. Flash would try to blow out all twenty candles on the grey and ivory cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Flash would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a yo-yo! He hoped it would be a queer yo-yo. His friend Debbie had said she would give him a diary, and his sister-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the paperweight she gave him last year. Flash could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his set of pink foam curlers. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the buffalo wallow. He would have to wear a midi skirt instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bandana.
He paraded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like perfume. His dad was standing there with a ladle in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a honk.
"Hi Daddy!" Flash replied solemnly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the brownies," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra garlic powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Flash replied obediently. "Do we have the chicken pot pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his father replied impatiently. "It only has to braise for sixty-two minutes."
"Okay," Flash replied warmly. "I'm gonna go to the laundry room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cookies in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the laundry 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," Flash responded, as he sat down to his cookies. "Let's hang lots of aquamarine balloons and cover the TV and the armoire with chartreuse crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father effortlessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Constance Parker. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Fiddlesticks," Flash responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snigger. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."