Solomon woke up with a belch. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a poodle costume and a tinfoil hat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the ballroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like crazy eights and pool. His dad was planning to make plenty of falafel and country glazed ham for everyone. Solomon would try to blow out all ten candles on the white and teal cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Solomon would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pipe! He hoped it would be a gaudy pipe. His friend Angie had said she would give him a pillow, and his mentor always gave him cool stuff like the balloon she gave him last year. Solomon could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hailstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his poodle costume. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the backyard. He would have to wear a cat suit instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his tinfoil hat.
He capered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a wet dog. His dad was standing there with a basting brush in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a honk.
"Hi Daddy!" Solomon replied proudly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the falafel," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra spaghetti noodles. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Solomon replied queerly. "Do we have the country glazed ham ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his father replied courteously. "It only has to marinate for twenty-four minutes."
"Okay," Solomon replied daintily. "I'm gonna go to the ballroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some sushi in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the ballroom 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," Solomon responded, as he sat down to his sushi. "Let's hang lots of scarlet balloons and cover the stairway and the windowsill with periwinkle crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father nervously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Lizzie Morgan. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"Holy mackerel," Solomon responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a pound of the chest. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."