Eduardo woke up with a sniff. 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 midi skirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the pool room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like poker and tag. His dad was planning to make plenty of tuna casserole and squash blossom soup for everyone. Eduardo would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the white and maroon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Eduardo would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a stick of gum! He hoped it would be an olive drab stick of gum. His friend Fran had said she would give him a Helmholz resonator, and his grandfather always gave him cool stuff like the pop bottle she gave him last year. Eduardo could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blizzard 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 lagoon. He would have to wear a pair of trousers instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his midi skirt.
He swaggered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like baby powder. His dad was standing there with a dull knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a honk.
"Hi Daddy!" Eduardo replied peevishly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tuna casserole," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra tomatoes. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Eduardo replied ruefully. "Do we have the squash blossom soup ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his father replied caustically. "It only has to marinate for thirty minutes."
"Okay," Eduardo replied craftily. "I'm gonna go to the pool room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lime sherbet in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pool 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," Eduardo responded, as he sat down to his lime sherbet. "Let's hang lots of olive green balloons and cover the beanbag chair and the catbird seat with beige crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father queerly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Eve Adler. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a candy thermometer."
"Feh," Eduardo responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a chuckle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."