Darryl woke up with a power fist. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a bandana and a pair of trousers. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the boudoir was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eleven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like golf and cribbage. His dad was planning to make plenty of pretzels and scrambled eggs for everyone. Darryl would try to blow out all eight candles on the turquoise and camouflage cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Darryl would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a banana! He hoped it would be a colossal banana. His friend Debbie had said she would give him a pair of dice, and his mentor always gave him cool stuff like the Frisbee she gave him last year. Darryl 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 bandana. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the seashore. He would have to wear a robe instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of trousers.
He slipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a laundry. His dad was standing there with a wooden spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a death glare.
"Hi Daddy!" Darryl replied furiously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pretzels," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra shrimp. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Darryl replied shyly. "Do we have the scrambled eggs ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his father replied swiftly. "It only has to marinate for forty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Darryl replied ingeniously. "I'm gonna go to the boudoir."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some oatmeal in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boudoir 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," Darryl responded, as he sat down to his oatmeal. "Let's hang lots of olive green balloons and cover the chest of drawers and the crib with teal crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father admiringly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Lynn Davis. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Zowie," Darryl responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a flutter. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."