Roger woke up with a grimace. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a derby and a jogging suit. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like Monopoly and red light green light. His dad was planning to make plenty of clam chowder and pizza for everyone. Roger would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the khaki and green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Roger would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a clam! He hoped it would be a rough clam. His friend Clarabell had said she would give him a corsage, and his wife always gave him cool stuff like the basketball she gave him last year. Roger 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 derby. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the marsh. He would have to wear a pair of ear muffs instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his jogging suit.
He slumped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like old books. His dad was standing there with a potato masher in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a woof.
"Hi Daddy!" Roger replied sarcastically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the clam chowder," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sourdough. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Roger replied cruelly. "Do we have the pizza ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his father replied silently. "It only has to blend for forty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Roger replied quickly. "I'm gonna go to the porch."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pot roast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the porch 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," Roger responded, as he sat down to his pot roast. "Let's hang lots of white balloons and cover the chair and the washing machine with pea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father blankly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Jeri Oggendorf. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an oven mitt."
"Oops," Roger responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a glare. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."