Donald woke up with a frown. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a big smile and a motorcycle helmet. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like Clue and Simon Says. His dad was planning to make plenty of jambalaya and sauerkraut for everyone. Donald would try to blow out all twenty-one candles on the golden and carrot-orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Donald would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Bunsen burner! He hoped it would be a narrow Bunsen burner. His friend Reba had said she would give him a stuffed bunny, and his dad always gave him cool stuff like the ball she gave him last year. Donald could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his big smile. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the valley. He would have to wear a pair of jeans instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his motorcycle helmet.
He galumphed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fried chicken. His dad was standing there with a cookie cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a bow.
"Hi Daddy!" Donald replied innocently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the jambalaya," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra onion. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Donald replied fearfully. "Do we have the sauerkraut ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his father replied elatedly. "It only has to allow to rise in warm place for several hours for seventy-nine minutes."
"Okay," Donald replied wildly. "I'm gonna go to the porch."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some macaroni in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the porch 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," Donald responded, as he sat down to his macaroni. "Let's hang lots of aquamarine balloons and cover the armoire and the coffee table with purple crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father swiftly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Joan Tanaka. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"Isht," Donald responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a bow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."