Jay woke up with a wink. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a wet suit and a bedsheet. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the salon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited one of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like shuffleboard and Monopoly. His dad was planning to make plenty of Cheerios and lobster bisque for everyone. Jay would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the sparkly and azure cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jay would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a box of Kleenex! He hoped it would be a rigid box of Kleenex. His friend Darlene had said she would give him a candy cane, and his aunt always gave him cool stuff like the orchid she gave him last year. Jay could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a thunderstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his wet suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the cornfield. He would have to wear a fez instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bedsheet.
He skittered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cedar. His dad was standing there with a slotted spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a smack.
"Hi Daddy!" Jay replied truculently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Cheerios," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra corn chips. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jay replied greedily. "Do we have the lobster bisque ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his father replied stupidly. "It only has to whirl for thirty minutes."
"Okay," Jay replied despondently. "I'm gonna go to the salon."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some bread and butter in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the salon 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," Jay responded, as he sat down to his bread and butter. "Let's hang lots of camouflage balloons and cover the crib and the casket with jade crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father softly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Evette Bishop. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a whisk."
"Alleluia," Jay responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a backward glance. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."