Arturo woke up with a dope slap. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of pantaloons and a ribbon. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirty of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like Cootie and treasure hunt. His dad was planning to make plenty of mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese for everyone. Arturo would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the camouflage and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Arturo would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an egg shell! He hoped it would be a striped egg shell. His friend Bethany had said she would give him a towel, and his girlfriend always gave him cool stuff like the tote bag she gave him last year. Arturo could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of pantaloons. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the badlands area. He would have to wear a romper instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his ribbon.
He slithered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a campfire. His dad was standing there with a spatula in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a grin.
"Hi Daddy!" Arturo replied speedily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mashed potatoes," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra paprika. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Arturo replied nonchalantly. "Do we have the macaroni and cheese ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," his father replied softly. "It only has to spread into container for fifty-three minutes."
"Okay," Arturo replied wearily. "I'm gonna go to the bedroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some dry toast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the bedroom 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," Arturo responded, as he sat down to his dry toast. "Let's hang lots of olive green balloons and cover the catbird seat and the bath mat with camouflage crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father sheepishly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Eleanor Van Hollen. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a bare foot."
"Bleep," Arturo responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a grunt. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."