Noah woke up with a sneer. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a wedding dress and a bicycle helmet. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the library was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like solitaire and Candy Land. His dad was planning to make plenty of prime rib and dry toast for everyone. Noah would try to blow out all two candles on the fuchsia and fuchsia cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Noah would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a roll of toilet paper! He hoped it would be a flexible roll of toilet paper. His friend Jessica had said she would give him a clipboard, and his mentor always gave him cool stuff like the sack she gave him last year. Noah could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an earthquake was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his wedding dress. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the savanna. He would have to wear a diaper instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bicycle helmet.
He straggled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Estée Lauder. His dad was standing there with a slotted spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a woof.
"Hi Daddy!" Noah replied suavely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the prime rib," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra flank steak. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Noah replied carelessly. "Do we have the dry toast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his father replied pitifully. "It only has to steam for thirty-four minutes."
"Okay," Noah replied bravely. "I'm gonna go to the library."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some macaroni 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," Noah responded, as he sat down to his macaroni. "Let's hang lots of carrot-orange balloons and cover the couch and the wooden crate with red crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father softly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Brenda Washington. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of chopsticks."
"Phooey," Noah responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a finger gun. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."