Jacob woke up with a roar. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a sweatshirt and a pair of glasses. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the master bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like Candy Land and treasure hunt. His dad was planning to make plenty of chicken gumbo and steak for everyone. Jacob would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the azure and aquamarine cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jacob would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a duffel bag! He hoped it would be a yellow duffel bag. His friend Hallie had said she would give him a hacksaw, and his wife always gave him cool stuff like the Egyptian mummy she gave him last year. Jacob could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a driving rain was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his sweatshirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the hill. He would have to wear a tool belt instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of glasses.
He lumbered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fried chicken. His dad was standing there with a ladle in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a flutter.
"Hi Daddy!" Jacob replied lickety-split. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken gumbo," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pâté de foie gras. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jacob replied menacingly. "Do we have the steak ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his father replied valiantly. "It only has to scramble for sixty-two minutes."
"Okay," Jacob replied woefully. "I'm gonna go to the master bathroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tortillas in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the master bathroom 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," Jacob responded, as he sat down to his tortillas. "Let's hang lots of sea green balloons and cover the pillow and the ironing board with sparkly crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father grimly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Norma Ackerman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a fork."
"Far out, man," Jacob responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a growl. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."