Lynn woke up with a pound of the chest. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a shawl and an Eton jacket. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the kitchen 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 poker and poker. His dad was planning to make plenty of oyster on the half-shell and pretzels for everyone. Lynn would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the sparkly and sea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lynn would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a comic book! He hoped it would be a primitive comic book. His friend Marissa had said she would give him a bell, and his sister always gave him cool stuff like the flashlight she gave him last year. Lynn could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his shawl. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the meadow. He would have to wear a necklace instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his Eton jacket.
He rushed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Elizabeth Arden. His dad was standing there with a cookie cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a fist bump.
"Hi Daddy!" Lynn replied swiftly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the oyster on the half-shell," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra chicken. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lynn replied narrowly. "Do we have the pretzels ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his father replied surreptitiously. "It only has to toast for forty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Lynn replied gently. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Froot Loops in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the kitchen 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," Lynn responded, as he sat down to his Froot Loops. "Let's hang lots of ivory balloons and cover the rocking chair and the ping-pong table with orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father cheerfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Marla Morrissey. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a candy thermometer."
"Zounds," Lynn responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a glare. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."