Cheng woke up with a raised eyebrow. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a poodle skirt and a pair of toe shoes. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the billiard room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like chess and follow the leader. His dad was planning to make plenty of fish and chips and chicken chow mein for everyone. Cheng would try to blow out all thirty candles on the navy blue and navy blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Cheng would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a duffel bag! He hoped it would be a primitive duffel bag. His friend Evette had said she would give him a towel, and his mom always gave him cool stuff like the top she gave him last year. Cheng could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his poodle skirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the village. He would have to wear a fez instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of toe shoes.
He careened downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Revlon. His dad was standing there with a blender in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a stiff upper lip.
"Hi Daddy!" Cheng replied defiantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fish and chips," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sauerkraut. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Cheng replied warmly. "Do we have the chicken chow mein ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his father replied dubiously. "It only has to microwave for two minutes."
"Okay," Cheng replied hopefully. "I'm gonna go to the billiard room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some strawberry shortcake 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," Cheng responded, as he sat down to his strawberry shortcake. "Let's hang lots of magenta balloons and cover the hatstand and the cash register with yellow crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father nicely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Lottie Cutler. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"Puppy biscuits," Cheng responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snicker. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."