Ricky woke up with a cheer. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a smartwatch and a skeleton costume. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like treasure hunt and battleship. His dad was planning to make plenty of Froot Loops and crab rangoon for everyone. Ricky would try to blow out all twelve candles on the olive drab and maroon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ricky would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a lollipop! He hoped it would be a bulky lollipop. His friend Maybie had said she would give him a balloon, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the candy cane she gave him last year. Ricky could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his smartwatch. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the cesspool. He would have to wear a Superman costume instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his skeleton costume.
He sallied forth downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Revlon. His dad was standing there with a meat thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a raspberry.
"Hi Daddy!" Ricky replied warily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Froot Loops," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra half and half. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ricky replied uneasily. "Do we have the crab rangoon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his father replied frantically. "It only has to scramble for eighty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Ricky replied ferociously. "I'm gonna go to the porch."
"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 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," Ricky responded, as he sat down to his cinnamon toast. "Let's hang lots of teal balloons and cover the buffet and the rug with salmon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father temperamentally. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Kelley Warren. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a knife."
"Son of a gun," Ricky responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a tear. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."