Pete woke up with a beam. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a cat suit and a visor. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like roulette and tennis. His dad was planning to make plenty of hamburgers and ravioli for everyone. Pete would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the navy blue and chocolate brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Pete would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a tube of toothpaste! He hoped it would be a disgusting tube of toothpaste. His friend Celeste had said she would give him a contract, and his grandma always gave him cool stuff like the banana she gave him last year. Pete could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pall of doom was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his cat suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the wasteland. He would have to wear a pair of glasses instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his visor.
He slumped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a bouquet. His dad was standing there with a corkscrew in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a glare.
"Hi Daddy!" Pete replied flightily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hamburgers," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra orange juice. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Pete replied coldly. "Do we have the ravioli ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his father replied ferociously. "It only has to sear outside for seventy-four minutes."
"Okay," Pete replied tensely. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some crumb cake in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the linen closet 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," Pete responded, as he sat down to his crumb cake. "Let's hang lots of navy blue balloons and cover the bathtub and the china cabinet with polka dotted crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father silently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, LaVerne Boyd. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a food processor."
"Exaltations," Pete responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a sniff. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."