Lear woke up with a stiff upper lip. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a hat and a garland. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the corridor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like leapfrog and marbles. His dad was planning to make plenty of tortillas and blueberry pie for everyone. Lear would try to blow out all three candles on the maroon and blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lear would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bicycle! He hoped it would be an archaic bicycle. His friend Tanya had said she would give him a pack of gum, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the teapot she gave him last year. Lear could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a windstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the housing development. He would have to wear a birthday suit instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his garland.
He bounded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like beer. His dad was standing there with an oven mitt in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a snicker.
"Hi Daddy!" Lear replied slowly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tortillas," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pistachios. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lear replied bravely. "Do we have the blueberry pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his father replied surreptitiously. "It only has to press for fourteen minutes."
"Okay," Lear replied urgently. "I'm gonna go to the corridor."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some candy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the corridor 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," Lear responded, as he sat down to his candy. "Let's hang lots of crimson balloons and cover the filing cabinet and the catbird seat with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father arrogantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Joanne De Luca. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Huzzah," Lear responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a finger gun. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."