Gilmo woke up with a chortle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a diaper and a pair of glasses. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the hall was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like checkers and shuffleboard. His dad was planning to make plenty of bread and butter and egg drop soup for everyone. Gilmo would try to blow out all fifteen candles on the forest green and camouflage cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Gilmo would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Lego set! He hoped it would be a hand-made Lego set. His friend Kay had said she would give him a roll of toilet paper, and his mother-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the yo-yo she gave him last year. Gilmo could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drizzle was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his diaper. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the glen. He would have to wear a sweater instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of glasses.
He skipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a wet dog. His dad was standing there with a blender in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a sneeze.
"Hi Daddy!" Gilmo replied viciously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the bread and butter," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra paprika. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Gilmo replied patiently. "Do we have the egg drop soup ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his father replied slyly. "It only has to poach lightly for twenty-three minutes."
"Okay," Gilmo replied lickety-split. "I'm gonna go to the hall."
"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 hall 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," Gilmo responded, as he sat down to his ice cream. "Let's hang lots of beige balloons and cover the rug and the ironing board with olive drab crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father gently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Ashley Beversdorf. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato masher."
"Hmmm," Gilmo responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snarl. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."