Jared woke up with a titter. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a fig leaf and a Superman costume. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the nursery was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like Scrabble and tag. His dad was planning to make plenty of egg rolls and sweet potatoes for everyone. Jared would try to blow out all three candles on the brilliant orange and pea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jared would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a potato! He hoped it would be a slimy potato. His friend Kim had said she would give him a candle, and his mom always gave him cool stuff like the sea shell she gave him last year. Jared could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hailstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his fig leaf. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the garden. He would have to wear a cocktail dress instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his Superman costume.
He flounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cigarettes. His dad was standing there with a paring knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a beam.
"Hi Daddy!" Jared replied hopelessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg rolls," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra salmon. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jared replied tensely. "Do we have the sweet potatoes ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his father replied charmingly. "It only has to place on serving dish for sixty minutes."
"Okay," Jared replied busily. "I'm gonna go to the nursery."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cinnamon toast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the nursery 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," Jared responded, as he sat down to his cinnamon toast. "Let's hang lots of emerald green balloons and cover the china hutch and the armoire with white crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father demurely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Tanya Goldfarb. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Brrr," Jared responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snigger. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."