Bum woke up with a pucker. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a gorilla suit and a denim skirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the ballroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like Cootie and battleship. His dad was planning to make plenty of roast beef and cabbage for everyone. Bum would try to blow out all fourteen candles on the white and hot pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Bum would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a corncob! He hoped it would be an authentic corncob. His friend Jennessa had said she would give him a stamp, and his grandfather always gave him cool stuff like the biscuit she gave him last year. Bum could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his gorilla suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the neighborhood. He would have to wear a robe instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his denim skirt.
He traipsed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like orange spice. His dad was standing there with an electric mixer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a sneeze.
"Hi Daddy!" Bum replied elatedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast beef," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cream cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Bum replied bravely. "Do we have the cabbage ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his father replied suddenly. "It only has to freeze for one minute."
"Okay," Bum replied carelessly. "I'm gonna go to the ballroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some beef bouillon in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the ballroom 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," Bum responded, as he sat down to his beef bouillon. "Let's hang lots of violet balloons and cover the bookshelf and the recliner with blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father irritably. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Vivian Bianchi. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of chopsticks."
"Caramba," Bum responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a yawn. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."