Ollie woke up with a roar. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a bolo tie and a burqa. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the billiard room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like leapfrog and Mother May I. His dad was planning to make plenty of crab rangoon and lasagna for everyone. Ollie would try to blow out all twenty-one candles on the purple and terra cotta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ollie would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a tube of glue! He hoped it would be a dirty tube of glue. His friend Antonia had said she would give him an iPhone, and his friend always gave him cool stuff like the baseball she gave him last year. Ollie could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his bolo tie. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the plain. He would have to wear a suit instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his burqa.
He slid downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like liver and onions. His dad was standing there with a cookie cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a pout.
"Hi Daddy!" Ollie replied dolorously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the crab rangoon," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh papaya. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ollie replied tenderly. "Do we have the lasagna ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his father replied sadly. "It only has to poach lightly for seventy minutes."
"Okay," Ollie replied gleefully. "I'm gonna go to the billiard room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some banana split in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the billiard room 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," Ollie responded, as he sat down to his banana split. "Let's hang lots of turquoise balloons and cover the ottoman and the bench with peach crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father wildly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Pleasance Pickett. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a candy thermometer."
"Buzzards," Ollie 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."