Randy woke up with a flinch. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a derby and a badge. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the nursery was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like chess and Cootie. His dad was planning to make plenty of tortillas and hamburgers for everyone. Randy would try to blow out all two candles on the silver and jet black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Randy would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cactus plant! He hoped it would be a small cactus plant. His friend Fran had said she would give him a brochure, and his mother always gave him cool stuff like the package she gave him last year. Randy could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his derby. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountainside. He would have to wear a pair of culottes instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his badge.
He slid downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like turpentine. His dad was standing there with a meat tenderizer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a laugh.
"Hi Daddy!" Randy replied dreamily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tortillas," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra yogurt. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Randy replied humbly. "Do we have the hamburgers ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his father replied needlessly. "It only has to scramble for fifty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Randy replied breathlessly. "I'm gonna go to the nursery."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some prune pudding in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the nursery 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," Randy responded, as he sat down to his prune pudding. "Let's hang lots of grey balloons and cover the floor and the file cabinet with scarlet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father surreptitiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Victoria Badwell. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat tenderizer."
"Spiffy," Randy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a shiver. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."