Mickey woke up with a titter. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a blazer and a visor. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the basement was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited sixteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like baseball and billiards. His dad was planning to make plenty of banana split and crab rangoon for everyone. Mickey would try to blow out all nine candles on the emerald green and golden cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Mickey would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hacksaw! He hoped it would be a fuzzy hacksaw. His friend Loreen had said she would give him an iPod, and his dad always gave him cool stuff like the cowbell she gave him last year. Mickey could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his blazer. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the village. He would have to wear a class ring instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his visor.
He sprinted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a compost pile. His dad was standing there with a strainer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a hug.
"Hi Daddy!" Mickey replied brightly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the banana split," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra onion. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Mickey replied diligently. "Do we have the crab rangoon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his father replied warily. "It only has to marinate for fifty-four minutes."
"Okay," Mickey replied nonchalantly. "I'm gonna go to the basement."
"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 basement 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," Mickey responded, as he sat down to his dry toast. "Let's hang lots of orange balloons and cover the wardrobe and the water bed with brilliant orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father tensely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Crystal Griggs. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Nuts," Mickey responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a pound of the chest. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."