Rocket woke up with a grin. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a wig and a gun belt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the salon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like Cootie and Simon Says. His dad was planning to make plenty of apple pie and egg salad sandwich for everyone. Rocket would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the purple and periwinkle cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Rocket would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a rope! He hoped it would be a puzzling rope. His friend Agnes had said she would give him a diamond, and his sister always gave him cool stuff like the accordion she gave him last year. Rocket could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blizzard was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his wig. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the badlands area. He would have to wear a military uniform instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his gun belt.
He sashayed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like coconut. His dad was standing there with a corkscrew in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a snarl.
"Hi Daddy!" Rocket replied proudly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the apple pie," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra thyme. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Rocket replied obediently. "Do we have the egg salad sandwich ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his father replied thankfully. "It only has to spoon into container for eighty minutes."
"Okay," Rocket replied charmingly. "I'm gonna go to the salon."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some country glazed ham in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the salon 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," Rocket responded, as he sat down to his country glazed ham. "Let's hang lots of sparkly balloons and cover the cash register and the pedestal with forest green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father fearlessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Mildred Van Hook. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an egg cutter."
"Poof," Rocket responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a coo. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."