Rock woke up with a pucker. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of knickerbockers and a bicycle helmet. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the attic was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like billiards and leapfrog. His dad was planning to make plenty of Swiss cheese and Cheerios for everyone. Rock would try to blow out all thirty-five candles on the brown and hot pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Rock would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bowl! He hoped it would be an ornate bowl. His friend Kjersten had said she would give him a fishing rod, and his dad always gave him cool stuff like the playing card she gave him last year. Rock could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blizzard was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of knickerbockers. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the gulch. He would have to wear a tinfoil hat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bicycle helmet.
He bounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like sausage. His dad was standing there with a fork in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a titter.
"Hi Daddy!" Rock replied gently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Swiss cheese," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra salmon filets. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Rock replied admiringly. "Do we have the Cheerios ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his father replied sourly. "It only has to fry roughly in imitation skillet for one minute."
"Okay," Rock replied nicely. "I'm gonna go to the attic."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ice cream in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the attic 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," Rock responded, as he sat down to his ice cream. "Let's hang lots of scarlet balloons and cover the coffee table and the canopy bed with beige crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father unnaturally. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Regina Keene. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Very interesting," Rock responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a jeer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."