Jack woke up with a dope slap. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a set of football pads and a tool belt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the library was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like tag and cribbage. His dad was planning to make plenty of cinnamon toast and banana split for everyone. Jack would try to blow out all twelve candles on the lime-green and sparkly cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jack would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a suit of armor! He hoped it would be a rusty suit of armor. His friend Antonia had said she would give him a Rubik's cube, and his sister-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the corsage she gave him last year. Jack could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his set of football pads. 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 dentures instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his tool belt.
He hopped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pickles. His dad was standing there with a potato peeler in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a titter.
"Hi Daddy!" Jack replied briskly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cinnamon toast," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra shelled pecans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jack replied gracefully. "Do we have the banana split ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his father replied dolefully. "It only has to poach lightly for nineteen minutes."
"Okay," Jack replied repeatedly. "I'm gonna go to the library."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some banana split in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the library 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," Jack responded, as he sat down to his banana split. "Let's hang lots of striped balloons and cover the credenza and the dining table with golden crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father queerly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Penelope Meyer. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a slotted spoon."
"Boy oh boy," Jack responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a caress. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."