Del woke up with a power fist. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a shawl and a set of vampire fangs. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the pool room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like hopscotch and Cootie. His dad was planning to make plenty of catfish stew and succotash for everyone. Del would try to blow out all three candles on the chartreuse and aqua cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Del would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a primrose! He hoped it would be an unusual primrose. His friend May had said she would give him a joint, and his grandfather always gave him cool stuff like the billiard ball she gave him last year. Del 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 shawl. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the park. He would have to wear a beard instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his set of vampire fangs.
He sneaked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a swimming pool. His dad was standing there with a cookie cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a guffaw.
"Hi Daddy!" Del replied openly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the catfish stew," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra hot water. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Del replied gracefully. "Do we have the succotash ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his father replied energetically. "It only has to age for forty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Del replied quietly. "I'm gonna go to the pool room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some duck a l'orange in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pool room 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," Del responded, as he sat down to his duck a l'orange. "Let's hang lots of brilliant orange balloons and cover the recliner and the display case with black crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father wearily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Lily Hruska. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a bare foot."
"Freaky," Del responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a wrinkled nose. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."