Lars woke up with a wag of the finger. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a vest and an 'I'm with Stupid' shirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the boiler room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like Scrabble and tennis. His dad was planning to make plenty of tuna casserole and lime sherbet for everyone. Lars would try to blow out all twenty-eight candles on the emerald green and purple cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lars would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a ping-pong paddle! He hoped it would be an imported ping-pong paddle. His friend Libby had said she would give him a corsage, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the daisy she gave him last year. Lars could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his vest. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the cave. He would have to wear a tailcoat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his 'I'm with Stupid' shirt.
He rolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Estée Lauder. His dad was standing there with a grater in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a clenched fist.
"Hi Daddy!" Lars replied nonchalantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tuna casserole," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra mussels. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lars replied nimbly. "Do we have the lime sherbet ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his father replied fearfully. "It only has to allow to rise in warm place for several hours for eighty-one minutes."
"Okay," Lars replied steadily. "I'm gonna go to the boiler room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fried okra in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boiler 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," Lars responded, as he sat down to his fried okra. "Let's hang lots of blue balloons and cover the china cabinet and the desk with khaki crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father unabashedly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Emily Steele. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Ouch," Lars responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a face palm. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."