Luke woke up with a sigh. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of trousers and a cat suit. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the boiler room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited one of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like rummy and dominos. His dad was planning to make plenty of pot roast and pecan pie for everyone. Luke would try to blow out all three candles on the brown and sea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Luke would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a boomerang! He hoped it would be a damaged boomerang. His friend Patricia had said she would give him a watering can, and his friend always gave him cool stuff like the doily she gave him last year. Luke could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of trousers. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the gully. He would have to wear a heavy layer of makeup instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his cat suit.
He tramped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like vanilla. His dad was standing there with a potato peeler in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a pout.
"Hi Daddy!" Luke replied crankily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pot roast," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra garlic powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Luke replied perkily. "Do we have the pecan pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his father replied woodenly. "It only has to roast for thirty-four minutes."
"Okay," Luke replied hopelessly. "I'm gonna go to the boiler room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chocolate-covered ants in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boiler 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," Luke responded, as he sat down to his chocolate-covered ants. "Let's hang lots of brown balloons and cover the pool table and the crib with pea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father deftly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Oksana Borkowski. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an egg cutter."
"I doubt it," Luke responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a power fist. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."