Kelly woke up with a squint. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a heavy layer of makeup and a pair of tights. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the billiard room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like jump rope and badminton. His dad was planning to make plenty of fried eggs and ravioli for everyone. Kelly would try to blow out all three candles on the green and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kelly would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a dictionary! He hoped it would be a flaky dictionary. His friend Denise had said she would give him a mop, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the mousetrap she gave him last year. Kelly 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 heavy layer of makeup. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the cliff. He would have to wear a swimsuit instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of tights.
He made a beeline downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like mountain air. His dad was standing there with a wooden spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a yawn.
"Hi Daddy!" Kelly replied ruefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fried eggs," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra salmon. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kelly replied fearlessly. "Do we have the ravioli ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his father replied mysteriously. "It only has to broil for sixty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Kelly replied boisterously. "I'm gonna go to the billiard room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Cheerios in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the billiard room 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," Kelly responded, as he sat down to his Cheerios. "Let's hang lots of lime-green balloons and cover the windowsill and the sofa with lime-green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father demurely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Kristi Alexander. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a sharp knife."
"Well I'll be," Kelly responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a woof. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."