Edward 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 diamond bracelet and a skeleton costume. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the doghouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited one of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like cribbage and follow the leader. His dad was planning to make plenty of tacos and lobster for everyone. Edward would try to blow out all twenty-one candles on the lavender and aqua cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Edward would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a salt shaker! He hoped it would be an odd salt shaker. His friend Elena had said she would give him a saw, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the hammer she gave him last year. Edward could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his diamond bracelet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the dumpster. He would have to wear a baseball cap instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his skeleton costume.
He sprinted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pizza. His dad was standing there with an egg cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a flutter.
"Hi Daddy!" Edward replied mysteriously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tacos," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cayenne pepper. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Edward replied gingerly. "Do we have the lobster ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his father replied sarcastically. "It only has to freeze for thirty-three minutes."
"Okay," Edward replied oddly. "I'm gonna go to the doghouse."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some clam chowder in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the doghouse 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," Edward responded, as he sat down to his clam chowder. "Let's hang lots of grey balloons and cover the end table and the cushion with lavender crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father primly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Lakshmi Lott. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a blender."
"Ahh," Edward 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."