Phineas woke up with a guffaw. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a class ring and a bib. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the game room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like rummy and billiards. His mom was planning to make plenty of lobster and candy for everyone. Phineas would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the terra cotta and azure cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Phineas would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a peace pipe! He hoped it would be a musty peace pipe. His friend Alton had said he would give him an ironing board, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the saw she gave him last year. Phineas could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a tornado was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his class ring. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the buffalo wallow. He would have to wear a necktie instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bib.
He tumbled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like beef stew. His mom was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a grin.
"Hi Mommy!" Phineas replied carefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lobster," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra lemon zest. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Phineas replied uselessly. "Do we have the candy ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his mother replied patiently. "It only has to fry suddenly in stolen skillet for forty-three minutes."
"Okay," Phineas replied rapidly. "I'm gonna go to the game room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some bread and butter in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the game room first?" he begged.
"It looks just like it always does," his mother replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Phineas responded, as he sat down to his bread and butter. "Let's hang lots of polka dotted balloons and cover the mattress and the hatstand with pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother unexpectedly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Bettie Lou Ming. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"Uh," Phineas responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sneer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."