Wesley woke up with a growl. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a false moustache and a pair of shoes. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the master bathroom 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 Mother May I and cribbage. His dad was planning to make plenty of macaroni and ice cream for everyone. Wesley would try to blow out all six candles on the blue and khaki cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Wesley would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a basket! He hoped it would be a jagged basket. His friend Faye had said she would give him a feather, and his grandma always gave him cool stuff like the bone she gave him last year. Wesley 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 false moustache. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the dump. He would have to wear a feather boa instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of shoes.
He bounded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pineapple. His dad was standing there with an egg cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a snarl.
"Hi Daddy!" Wesley replied ruefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the macaroni," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra mashed potatoes. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Wesley replied narrowly. "Do we have the ice cream ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his father replied firmly. "It only has to arrange for ten minutes."
"Okay," Wesley replied irritably. "I'm gonna go to the master bathroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some dry toast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the master bathroom 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," Wesley responded, as he sat down to his dry toast. "Let's hang lots of beige balloons and cover the hatstand and the coat rack with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father sympathetically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Minnie King. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a paring knife."
"Big deal," Wesley responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a smack. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."