Elmer woke up with a bound. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in an armband and a ponytail. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like croquet and hopscotch. His dad was planning to make plenty of mashed potatoes and catfish stew for everyone. Elmer would try to blow out all twenty-four candles on the lime-green and salmon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Elmer would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a garbage can! He hoped it would be a modern garbage can. His friend Carmen had said she would give him a broom, and his sister always gave him cool stuff like the grease gun she gave him last year. Elmer 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 armband. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the hill. He would have to wear a tank top instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his ponytail.
He bounded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pickles. His dad was standing there with an egg cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a titter.
"Hi Daddy!" Elmer replied courageously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mashed potatoes," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra tomatoes. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Elmer replied fiercely. "Do we have the catfish stew ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his father replied recklessly. "It only has to heat in microwave for fifty-two minutes."
"Okay," Elmer replied primly. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast Cornish game hen 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," Elmer responded, as he sat down to his roast Cornish game hen. "Let's hang lots of lavender balloons and cover the bath mat and the ottoman with purple crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father stupidly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Fiona Burner. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pastry blender."
"WTF," Elmer responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with an air kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."