Matthew woke up with a sneeze. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a straitjacket and a pair of culottes. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the rec room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Cootie and solitaire. His dad was planning to make plenty of hors d'oeuvre and sweet potatoes for everyone. Matthew would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the brown and pea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Matthew would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a coin! He hoped it would be a speckled coin. His friend Ava had said she would give him a teapot, and his grandma always gave him cool stuff like the nail she gave him last year. Matthew could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sandstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his straitjacket. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the bog. He would have to wear a scarf instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of culottes.
He danced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a swimming pool. His dad was standing there with a paring knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a squint.
"Hi Daddy!" Matthew replied silently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hors d'oeuvre," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra salt. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Matthew replied fearfully. "Do we have the sweet potatoes ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his father replied automatically. "It only has to age for fifty-two minutes."
"Okay," Matthew replied dubiously. "I'm gonna go to the rec room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pumpkin pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the rec 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," Matthew responded, as he sat down to his pumpkin pie. "Let's hang lots of striped balloons and cover the china hutch and the card table with striped crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father furiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Chloe Romer. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric mixer."
"Avast," Matthew responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snarl. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."