Biff woke up with a cackle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a necklace and a floppy hat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the doghouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like leapfrog and Mother May I. His dad was planning to make plenty of prime rib and cotton candy for everyone. Biff would try to blow out all twenty-six candles on the red and burgundy cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Biff would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a barbell! He hoped it would be a plain barbell. His friend Krista had said she would give him a protest sign, and his friend always gave him cool stuff like the pail she gave him last year. Biff could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a thunderstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his necklace. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the lagoon. He would have to wear a pair of moccasins instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his floppy hat.
He skittered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rotten fish. His dad was standing there with an oven mitt in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a sigh.
"Hi Daddy!" Biff replied busily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the prime rib," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra kiwis. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Biff replied hopefully. "Do we have the cotton candy ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his father replied quickly. "It only has to poach lightly for seventy-five minutes."
"Okay," Biff replied gleefully. "I'm gonna go to the doghouse."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some candy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the doghouse 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," Biff responded, as he sat down to his candy. "Let's hang lots of olive green balloons and cover the bookshelf and the hamper with metallic red crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father carelessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Brooke Brinkman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a bare foot."
"Chirp," Biff responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a twitch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."