Cyrus woke up with a sneeze. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a shawl and a sport coat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the master bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like bridge and hearts. His dad was planning to make plenty of potatoes and gravy and ice cream for everyone. Cyrus would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the chartreuse and burgundy cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Cyrus would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a dollhouse! He hoped it would be a shiny dollhouse. His friend Susie had said she would give him a plaque, and his grandma always gave him cool stuff like the billfold she gave him last year. Cyrus could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his shawl. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the canyon. He would have to wear a corsage instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his sport coat.
He bounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cigar smoke. His dad was standing there with a paring knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a stiff upper lip.
"Hi Daddy!" Cyrus replied surreptitiously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the potatoes and gravy," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra wasabi powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Cyrus replied warily. "Do we have the ice cream ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his father replied silently. "It only has to heat in microwave for sixty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Cyrus replied fondly. "I'm gonna go to the master bathroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Swiss cheese in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the master bathroom 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," Cyrus responded, as he sat down to his Swiss cheese. "Let's hang lots of jet black balloons and cover the hope chest and the TV with purple crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father tensely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Mary Lyman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric paint mixer."
"Hmm," Cyrus responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a roar. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."