Chum woke up with a flinch. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a sweater and a suit of armor. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the guest room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like dominos and roulette. His dad was planning to make plenty of fish and chips and squash blossom soup for everyone. Chum would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the sparkly and rose cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Chum would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a whistle! He hoped it would be a smumpy whistle. His friend Marcy had said she would give him a map, and his fiancée always gave him cool stuff like the diary she gave him last year. Chum 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 sweater. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the buffalo wallow. He would have to wear a pair of boxer shorts instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his suit of armor.
He padded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like old books. His dad was standing there with a candy thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a grimace.
"Hi Daddy!" Chum replied defiantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fish and chips," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra bean sprouts. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Chum replied repeatedly. "Do we have the squash blossom soup ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his father replied tenderly. "It only has to fry fearfully in art deco skillet for twenty-six minutes."
"Okay," Chum replied warily. "I'm gonna go to the guest room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some refried beans in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the guest room 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," Chum responded, as he sat down to his refried beans. "Let's hang lots of white balloons and cover the bookcase and the end table with azure crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father awkwardly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Tonya Bewley. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a candy thermometer."
"Touché," Chum responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a shrug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."