Edmond woke up with a simper. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a smartwatch and a pair of knickerbockers. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the dining room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like roulette and pool. His dad was planning to make plenty of crab rangoon and dirty rice for everyone. Edmond would try to blow out all three candles on the beige and sparkly cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Edmond would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pearl! He hoped it would be a dirty pearl. His friend Libby had said she would give him a fire hose, and his friend always gave him cool stuff like the hand puppet she gave him last year. Edmond could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his smartwatch. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the pasture. He would have to wear a blazer instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of knickerbockers.
He traipsed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like manure. His dad was standing there with a sharp knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a hug.
"Hi Daddy!" Edmond replied suspiciously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the crab rangoon," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pork rinds. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Edmond replied madly. "Do we have the dirty rice ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his father replied bitterly. "It only has to sauté for eighty minutes."
"Okay," Edmond replied curiously. "I'm gonna go to the dining room."
"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 dining 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," Edmond responded, as he sat down to his dry toast. "Let's hang lots of pea green balloons and cover the bath mat and the wooden crate with maroon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father anxiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Mindy Cutler. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a sharp knife."
"I don't think so," Edmond responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a smirk. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."