Irving woke up with a pout. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a moustache and a scarf. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the auditorium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like battleship and badminton. His dad was planning to make plenty of oatmeal and succotash for everyone. Irving would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the striped and salmon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Irving would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a brush! He hoped it would be an autographed brush. His friend Esther had said she would give him a vacuum cleaner, and his girlfriend always gave him cool stuff like the piggy bank she gave him last year. Irving could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his moustache. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountainside. He would have to wear a straitjacket instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his scarf.
He inched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like chicken soup. His dad was standing there with a dish cloth in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a kiss.
"Hi Daddy!" Irving replied merrily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the oatmeal," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra raspberries. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Irving replied ingeniously. "Do we have the succotash ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his father replied accidentally. "It only has to poach lightly for seventy-six minutes."
"Okay," Irving replied accidentally. "I'm gonna go to the auditorium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some blueberry pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the auditorium 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," Irving responded, as he sat down to his blueberry pie. "Let's hang lots of terra cotta balloons and cover the cash register and the filing cabinet with maroon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father hungrily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Kate Knight. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a melon baller."
"You're kidding," Irving responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a clenched fist. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."