Humphrey woke up with a smack. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a lab coat and a cowboy hat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the boudoir was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like old maid and trivia. His dad was planning to make plenty of refried beans and chicken chow mein for everyone. Humphrey would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the yellow and amber cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Humphrey would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bottle! He hoped it would be a mysterious bottle. His friend Josephine had said she would give him a sponge, and his dad always gave him cool stuff like the flashlight she gave him last year. Humphrey could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pall of doom was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his lab coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the crime scene. He would have to wear a jumpsuit instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his cowboy hat.
He rushed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like road kill. His dad was standing there with a dull knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a sigh.
"Hi Daddy!" Humphrey replied noisily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the refried beans," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra tofu. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Humphrey replied clumsily. "Do we have the chicken chow mein ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his father replied stupidly. "It only has to melt for eight minutes."
"Okay," Humphrey replied gently. "I'm gonna go to the boudoir."
"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 boudoir 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," Humphrey responded, as he sat down to his pumpkin pie. "Let's hang lots of salmon balloons and cover the stairway and the wine rack with black crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father innocently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Amber Manning. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a knife."
"Hello," Humphrey responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snigger. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."