Jules woke up with a twitch. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a Panama hat and a maxi skirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the hall was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited sixteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like roulette and red light green light. His dad was planning to make plenty of chocolate-covered ants and tortillas for everyone. Jules would try to blow out all twenty-one candles on the violet and camouflage cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jules would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a skull! He hoped it would be a chic skull. His friend Dierdre had said she would give him a pair of pliers, and his grandpa always gave him cool stuff like the bottle of painkillers she gave him last year. Jules 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 Panama hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the glen. He would have to wear a set of vampire fangs instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his maxi skirt.
He ran downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Lancôme. His dad was standing there with an oven mitt in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a cackle.
"Hi Daddy!" Jules replied intensely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chocolate-covered ants," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra ground cumin. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jules replied gently. "Do we have the tortillas ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his father replied sympathetically. "It only has to simmer for fifty-three minutes."
"Okay," Jules replied tearfully. "I'm gonna go to the hall."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fish and chips in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the hall 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," Jules responded, as he sat down to his fish and chips. "Let's hang lots of mauve balloons and cover the catbird seat and the dresser with black crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father fondly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Barb Pope. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cookie cutter."
"Poof," Jules responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."