Nicholas woke up with a honk. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a sari and a lab coat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like hopscotch and blackjack. His dad was planning to make plenty of French fries and egg rolls for everyone. Nicholas would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the salmon and sea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Nicholas would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a candle! He hoped it would be an old candle. His friend Priscilla had said she would give him a calculator, and his mother always gave him cool stuff like the Bible she gave him last year. Nicholas could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his sari. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the marsh. He would have to wear a leotard instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his lab coat.
He slumped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Band-Aids. His dad was standing there with a knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a wink.
"Hi Daddy!" Nicholas replied cheerfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the French fries," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra baking powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Nicholas replied tenderly. "Do we have the egg rolls ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his father replied wearily. "It only has to blend for sixty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Nicholas replied blindly. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some dirty rice in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the living 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," Nicholas responded, as he sat down to his dirty rice. "Let's hang lots of chocolate brown balloons and cover the carpet and the chest of drawers with terra cotta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father pityingly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Taylor Zimmerman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a piece of cheesecloth."
"Voilà," Nicholas responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a pout. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."