Juan woke up with a woof. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a flour sack and a tailcoat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the patio was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like jacks and Parcheesi. His dad was planning to make plenty of Cheerios and Froot Loops for everyone. Juan would try to blow out all twelve candles on the blue and chartreuse cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Juan would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a muffin! He hoped it would be a brittle muffin. His friend Lynette had said she would give him a hip flask, and his wife always gave him cool stuff like the pumpkin she gave him last year. Juan could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his flour sack. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the savanna. He would have to wear a pair of boxer shorts instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his tailcoat.
He dashed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a new car. His dad was standing there with a slotted spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a shiver.
"Hi Daddy!" Juan replied brashly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Cheerios," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra egg white. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Juan replied clumsily. "Do we have the Froot Loops ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his father replied crazily. "It only has to allow to rise in warm place for several hours for sixty-five minutes."
"Okay," Juan replied boldly. "I'm gonna go to the patio."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast Cornish game hen in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the patio 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," Juan responded, as he sat down to his roast Cornish game hen. "Let's hang lots of pea green balloons and cover the stairway and the billiard table with khaki crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father anxiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Olivia Flores. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a basting brush."
"Who cares," Juan responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a raspberry. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."