Conrad woke up with a coo. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of moccasins and a coat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the library was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like tag and volleyball. His dad was planning to make plenty of spaghetti and egg rolls for everyone. Conrad would try to blow out all twenty-eight candles on the grey and black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Conrad would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a feather duster! He hoped it would be a peculiar feather duster. His friend Elinor had said she would give him a balloon, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the fossil she gave him last year. Conrad could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dense fog was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of moccasins. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the buffalo wallow. He would have to wear a beard instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his coat.
He danced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like hot cocoa. His dad was standing there with a meat thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a dope slap.
"Hi Daddy!" Conrad replied sarcastically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the spaghetti," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra chicken. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Conrad replied thoughtfully. "Do we have the egg rolls ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his father replied gently. "It only has to fry later in rough skillet for one minute."
"Okay," Conrad replied demurely. "I'm gonna go to the library."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pretzels in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the library 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," Conrad responded, as he sat down to his pretzels. "Let's hang lots of hot pink balloons and cover the washing machine and the desk with scarlet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father wildly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Lynette Albrandt. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an oven mitt."
"So sure," Conrad responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a glare. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."