Lucas woke up with a fist bump. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a corsage and a tarboosh. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the lounge was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Monopoly and croquet. His dad was planning to make plenty of ramen noodles and applesauce for everyone. Lucas would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the forest green and violet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lucas would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an African violet! He hoped it would be a fabulous African violet. His friend Darlene had said she would give him a spider, and his mentor always gave him cool stuff like the teapot she gave him last year. Lucas could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his corsage. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the circus tent. He would have to wear a set of vampire fangs instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his tarboosh.
He galumphed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like onions. His dad was standing there with a grater in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a curtsey.
"Hi Daddy!" Lucas replied stealthily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ramen noodles," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra tomato sauce. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lucas replied immediately. "Do we have the applesauce ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his father replied merrily. "It only has to boil for one minute."
"Okay," Lucas replied crazily. "I'm gonna go to the lounge."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some doughnuts in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the lounge 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," Lucas responded, as he sat down to his doughnuts. "Let's hang lots of blue balloons and cover the desk and the bunk bed with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father hungrily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Beulah Banks. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a basting brush."
"Awesome," Lucas responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a sigh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."