Manny woke up with a wink. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a toupee and a space suit. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the master bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like jacks and old maid. His dad was planning to make plenty of applesauce and fried chicken for everyone. Manny would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the amber and red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Manny would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cardboard box! He hoped it would be a decrepit cardboard box. His friend Evette had said she would give him an elephant tusk, and his mentor always gave him cool stuff like the paper airplane she gave him last year. Manny could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his toupee. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the steppe. He would have to wear an Eton jacket instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his space suit.
He loped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Chanel. His dad was standing there with a dish cloth in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a wrinkled nose.
"Hi Daddy!" Manny replied thankfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the applesauce," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra water chestnuts. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Manny replied sternly. "Do we have the fried chicken ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his father replied gleefully. "It only has to poach lightly for sixty-four minutes."
"Okay," Manny replied vigorously. "I'm gonna go to the master bedroom."
"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 master bedroom 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," Manny responded, as he sat down to his pumpkin pie. "Let's hang lots of orange balloons and cover the pillow and the couch with grey crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father daintily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Katherine Boyce. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spatula."
"Barf," Manny responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a smirk. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."