Wilson woke up with a sneeze. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a bonnet and a party hat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like hearts and pool. His dad was planning to make plenty of chicken chow mein and dirty rice for everyone. Wilson would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the red and navy blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Wilson would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an urn! He hoped it would be a dusty urn. His friend Sissy had said she would give him a candy cane, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the carrot she gave him last year. Wilson could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his bonnet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the gulch. He would have to wear a Superman costume instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his party hat.
He leapt downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like elderberries. His dad was standing there with a cookie cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a belly laugh.
"Hi Daddy!" Wilson replied pitifully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken chow mein," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra chili powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Wilson replied silently. "Do we have the dirty rice ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his father replied warmly. "It only has to microwave for eighteen minutes."
"Okay," Wilson replied cheerfully. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom."
"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 bathroom 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," Wilson responded, as he sat down to his clam chowder. "Let's hang lots of violet balloons and cover the rocking chair and the china cabinet with forest green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father clumsily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Claudette Burtle. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Granular," Wilson responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a crow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."