Jughead woke up with a sniff. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a dress and a fez. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like Rummy and charades. His dad was planning to make plenty of mulligan stew and roast Cornish game hen for everyone. Jughead would try to blow out all five candles on the scarlet and khaki cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jughead would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bag! He hoped it would be a jagged bag. His friend Doralene had said she would give him a football, and his mentor always gave him cool stuff like the bird bath she gave him last year. Jughead could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a tornado was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his dress. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the backyard. He would have to wear a bonnet instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his fez.
He trotted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like tar. His dad was standing there with a turkey baster in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a chortle.
"Hi Daddy!" Jughead replied courageously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mulligan stew," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sesame seeds. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jughead replied strictly. "Do we have the roast Cornish game hen ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his father replied fearfully. "It only has to arrange for seventy-three minutes."
"Okay," Jughead replied ferociously. "I'm gonna go to the closet."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lobster in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the 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," Jughead responded, as he sat down to his lobster. "Let's hang lots of olive green balloons and cover the settee and the toilet with camouflage crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father hopefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Julie Thor. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Par bleu," Jughead responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snort. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."