Woody woke up with a sniffle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a hoop skirt and a jogging suit. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the library was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like hopscotch and Scrabble. His dad was planning to make plenty of chocolate-covered ants and lamb curry for everyone. Woody would try to blow out all fourteen candles on the orange and metallic red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Woody would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a padlock! He hoped it would be a soft padlock. His friend Brenda had said she would give him a smart phone, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the paper towel she gave him last year. Woody could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drizzle was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his hoop skirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the glen. He would have to wear a headband instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his jogging suit.
He flounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rose petals. His dad was standing there with a melon baller in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a woof.
"Hi Daddy!" Woody replied strangely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chocolate-covered ants," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra codfish pieces. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Woody replied wildly. "Do we have the lamb curry ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his father replied silently. "It only has to press for sixty-six minutes."
"Okay," Woody replied happily. "I'm gonna go to the library."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some crab rangoon in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the library 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," Woody responded, as he sat down to his crab rangoon. "Let's hang lots of sea green balloons and cover the overstuffed chair and the bookshelf with azure crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father cheerfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Evette Baca. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cheesecloth."
"Waa," Woody responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a wink. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."