T.J. woke up with a shiver. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a wizard's hat and a sari. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the atrium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like Parcheesi and charades. His dad was planning to make plenty of tuna casserole and cornbread for everyone. T.J. would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the sparkly and fuchsia cake. While the guests were eating their cake, T.J. would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pencil! He hoped it would be a used pencil. His friend Morgan had said she would give him a cardboard box, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the can of beans she gave him last year. T.J. could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an earthquake was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his wizard's hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the gully. He would have to wear a black belt instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his sari.
He slumped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like something died. His dad was standing there with a potato peeler in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a dope slap.
"Hi Daddy!" T.J. replied uneasily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tuna casserole," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra rosemary. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," T.J. replied sympathetically. "Do we have the cornbread ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his father replied admiringly. "It only has to mix joyously for two minutes."
"Okay," T.J. replied diligently. "I'm gonna go to the atrium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some macaroni in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the atrium 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," T.J. responded, as he sat down to his macaroni. "Let's hang lots of tan balloons and cover the china cabinet and the pool table with salmon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father softly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Eppie McGrath. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dish cloth."
"Lo and behold," T.J. responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a raspberry. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."