Reynaldo woke up with a snort. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of earmuffs and a bra. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the library was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like leapfrog and tag. His dad was planning to make plenty of beans and mulligan stew for everyone. Reynaldo would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the rose and blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Reynaldo would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fishing rod! He hoped it would be an archaic fishing rod. His friend Jessica had said she would give him an arrowhead, and his mom always gave him cool stuff like the handkerchief she gave him last year. Reynaldo could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of earmuffs. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the grassland. He would have to wear a letter jacket instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bra.
He crept downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like dill pickles. His dad was standing there with a pair of chopsticks in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a grin.
"Hi Daddy!" Reynaldo replied neatly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the beans," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra lettuce. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Reynaldo replied warily. "Do we have the mulligan stew ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his father replied smoothly. "It only has to fry grandly in ruined skillet for sixty-one minutes."
"Okay," Reynaldo replied recklessly. "I'm gonna go to the library."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some waffles in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the library 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," Reynaldo responded, as he sat down to his waffles. "Let's hang lots of brilliant orange balloons and cover the toilet and the piano with pea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father quickly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Angela Barducci. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Bilge," Reynaldo responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a hug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."