Manny woke up with a raspberry. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a towel and a jogging suit. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like roulette and blackjack. His dad was planning to make plenty of bread and butter and biscuits and gravy for everyone. Manny would try to blow out all fifteen candles on the striped and salmon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Manny would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a balloon! He hoped it would be an ordinary balloon. His friend Lorena had said she would give him a basket, and his grandmother always gave him cool stuff like the pinwheel she gave him last year. Manny could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his towel. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the jungle. He would have to wear a pair of roller skates instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his jogging suit.
He skittered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like nachos. His dad was standing there with a turkey baster in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a shiver.
"Hi Daddy!" Manny replied threateningly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the bread and butter," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh spinach. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Manny replied boldly. "Do we have the biscuits and gravy ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his father replied resignedly. "It only has to deep fry for twenty minutes."
"Okay," Manny replied thankfully. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast beef in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the living 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," Manny responded, as he sat down to his roast beef. "Let's hang lots of black balloons and cover the filing cabinet and the china hutch with red crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father merrily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Alison Pryor. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Malarkey," Manny 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."