Phillip woke up with a clenched fist. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a set of scrubs and a tattoo. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the cage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like roulette and old maid. His dad was planning to make plenty of tortillas and enchiladas for everyone. Phillip would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the grey and lavender cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Phillip would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an arrowhead! He hoped it would be an immense arrowhead. His friend Doris had said she would give him a daisy, and his fiancée always gave him cool stuff like the acorn she gave him last year. Phillip could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a snowstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his set of scrubs. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the lagoon. He would have to wear a cap instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his tattoo.
He danced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like maple syrup. His dad was standing there with an electric paint mixer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a curtsey.
"Hi Daddy!" Phillip replied thoughtfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tortillas," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra kidney beans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Phillip replied ignobly. "Do we have the enchiladas ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his father replied wearily. "It only has to melt for eleven minutes."
"Okay," Phillip replied gratefully. "I'm gonna go to the cage."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken soup in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the cage 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," Phillip responded, as he sat down to his chicken soup. "Let's hang lots of indigo balloons and cover the china hutch and the computer with black crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father busily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Joni Garcia. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cookie cutter."
"Unreal," Phillip responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a hiccup. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."