Sam woke up with a sniffle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a loincloth and a bow tie. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the dining room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-one of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like follow the leader and Cootie. His dad was planning to make plenty of catfish stew and pretzels for everyone. Sam would try to blow out all thirty candles on the black and crimson cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Sam would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pail! He hoped it would be an imitation pail. His friend Marilyn had said she would give him a boomerang, and his aunt always gave him cool stuff like the diamond she gave him last year. Sam could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hailstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his loincloth. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the desert. He would have to wear a false moustache instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bow tie.
He waded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like gardenias. His dad was standing there with a ladle in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with an air kiss.
"Hi Daddy!" Sam replied sagely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the catfish stew," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra Hershey Bar. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Sam replied ferociously. "Do we have the pretzels ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his father replied unabashedly. "It only has to fry for forty-one minutes."
"Okay," Sam replied madly. "I'm gonna go to the dining room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cherries jubilee in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dining 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," Sam responded, as he sat down to his cherries jubilee. "Let's hang lots of metallic red balloons and cover the rug and the water bed with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father daringly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Ying Franz. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a turkey baster."
"Hell's bells," Sam responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a cheer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."