Daniel woke up with a hiccup. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of panties and a feather boa. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like Rummy and old maid. His dad was planning to make plenty of dirty rice and wienerschnitzel for everyone. Daniel would try to blow out all six candles on the beige and turquoise cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Daniel would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an ingot of plutonium! He hoped it would be a large ingot of plutonium. His friend So-Yeng had said she would give him a microscope, and his dad always gave him cool stuff like the Lego set she gave him last year. Daniel could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of panties. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the cornfield. He would have to wear a pair of shoes instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his feather boa.
He scurried downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like smoke. His dad was standing there with a pair of chopsticks in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a smirk.
"Hi Daddy!" Daniel replied defiantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the dirty rice," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra canned pineapple. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Daniel replied peevishly. "Do we have the wienerschnitzel ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his father replied crankily. "It only has to toast for eighty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Daniel replied warmly. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some catfish stew in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the linen closet 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," Daniel responded, as he sat down to his catfish stew. "Let's hang lots of hot pink balloons and cover the dresser and the billiard table with blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father dolorously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Erica Parsons. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a garlic press."
"Eeek," Daniel responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snigger. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."