Randy woke up with a hug. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a bowler hat and a headscarf. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the hall was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like red rover and Mother May I. His dad was planning to make plenty of cornbread and applesauce for everyone. Randy would try to blow out all fourteen candles on the jet black and red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Randy would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a piggy bank! He hoped it would be an aromatic piggy bank. His friend Theresa had said she would give him a wrench, and his sister always gave him cool stuff like the church key she gave him last year. Randy could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his bowler hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mesa. He would have to wear a ring instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his headscarf.
He pranced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Christian Dior. His dad was standing there with a dull knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a frown.
"Hi Daddy!" Randy replied nicely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cornbread," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra baker's chocolate. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Randy replied happily. "Do we have the applesauce ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his father replied uselessly. "It only has to whirl for thirty-four minutes."
"Okay," Randy replied unexpectedly. "I'm gonna go to the hall."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some mushroom quiche in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the hall 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," Randy responded, as he sat down to his mushroom quiche. "Let's hang lots of striped balloons and cover the umbrella stand and the stool with azure crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father roughly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Nelda Lyman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato masher."
"Deranged," Randy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a dope slap. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."