Darin woke up with a pucker. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a sarong and a surgical mask. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the rec room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like marbles and jacks. His dad was planning to make plenty of cookies and pot roast for everyone. Darin would try to blow out all eight candles on the sea green and tan cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Darin would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hair brush! He hoped it would be a hand-made hair brush. His friend Linda had said she would give him a magazine, and his sister-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the fishing rod she gave him last year. Darin could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his sarong. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the peninsula. He would have to wear a maxi skirt instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his surgical mask.
He slumped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like strawberries. His dad was standing there with a strainer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a shiver.
"Hi Daddy!" Darin replied firmly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cookies," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra honey. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Darin replied softly. "Do we have the pot roast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his father replied sadly. "It only has to allow to rise in warm place for several hours for fifty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Darin replied sheepishly. "I'm gonna go to the rec room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pumpkin pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the rec 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," Darin responded, as he sat down to his pumpkin pie. "Let's hang lots of blue balloons and cover the couch and the canopy bed with chartreuse crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father languidly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Luann Giddings. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato masher."
"Dang it," Darin responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snort. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."