Floyd woke up with a wince. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of sandals and a hat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the patio was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like poker and chess. His dad was planning to make plenty of beef bouillon and pizza for everyone. Floyd would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the purple and red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Floyd would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an ashtray! He hoped it would be a plain ashtray. His friend Hagit had said she would give him a baritone saxophone, and his girlfriend always gave him cool stuff like the Frisbee she gave him last year. Floyd could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a snowstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of sandals. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the cave. He would have to wear a helmet instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his hat.
He paraded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pizza. His dad was standing there with a grater in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a glare.
"Hi Daddy!" Floyd replied tenderly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the beef bouillon," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra parsley. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Floyd replied smoothly. "Do we have the pizza ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his father replied crossly. "It only has to press for one minute."
"Okay," Floyd replied jokingly. "I'm gonna go to the patio."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some beef bouillon in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the patio 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," Floyd responded, as he sat down to his beef bouillon. "Let's hang lots of navy blue balloons and cover the beanbag chair and the umbrella stand with periwinkle crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father excitedly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Riley Hobbs. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cheesecloth."
"Granular," Floyd responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a finger gun. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."