Charles woke up with a chuckle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a toupee and a moustache. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like Cootie and solitaire. His dad was planning to make plenty of sushi and borscht for everyone. Charles would try to blow out all twenty-six candles on the lime-green and chocolate brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Charles would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hair brush! He hoped it would be an odd hair brush. His friend Jeanette had said she would give him a flowerpot, and his mom always gave him cool stuff like the fish bowl she gave him last year. Charles could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a tornado was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his toupee. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the landfill. He would have to wear a necklace instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his moustache.
He strolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like diesel exhaust. His dad was standing there with a basting brush in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a snort.
"Hi Daddy!" Charles replied quietly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the sushi," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra ketchup. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Charles replied blankly. "Do we have the borscht ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his father replied frantically. "It only has to broil for eighty minutes."
"Okay," Charles replied defiantly. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Swiss cheese in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the linen closet 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," Charles responded, as he sat down to his Swiss cheese. "Let's hang lots of sea green balloons and cover the pool table and the couch with lavender crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father crossly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Kirsten Petrov. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat tenderizer."
"Land's sakes," Charles responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a smile. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."