Nickolas woke up with a honk. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a wet suit and a sari. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the master bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like jacks and Clue. His dad was planning to make plenty of cookies and lamb curry for everyone. Nickolas would try to blow out all eight candles on the golden and azure cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Nickolas would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a peace pipe! He hoped it would be a mysterious peace pipe. His friend Henrietta had said she would give him a dollar bill, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the baton she gave him last year. Nickolas could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his wet suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the dumpster. He would have to wear a wig instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his sari.
He bounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like asparagus. His dad was standing there with a grater in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a flutter.
"Hi Daddy!" Nickolas replied gracefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cookies," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra jalapeños. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Nickolas replied arrogantly. "Do we have the lamb curry ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his father replied menacingly. "It only has to arrange for nineteen minutes."
"Okay," Nickolas replied languidly. "I'm gonna go to the master bedroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ice cream in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the master bedroom 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," Nickolas responded, as he sat down to his ice cream. "Let's hang lots of forest green balloons and cover the credenza and the display case with olive drab crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father doubtfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Antonia Stuart. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Heavens to murgatroyd," Nickolas responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a pout. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."