Knuckles woke up with a pout. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a dunce cap and a denim skirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the pool room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-one of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like chess and roulette. His mom was planning to make plenty of beans and chopped liver for everyone. Knuckles would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the magenta and yellow cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Knuckles would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a paper airplane! He hoped it would be a flexible paper airplane. His friend Peter had said he would give him a spoon, and his mom always gave him cool stuff like the dog collar she gave him last year. Knuckles could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his dunce cap. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the swamp. He would have to wear a pair of shoes instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his denim skirt.
He sailed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like sea mist. His mom was standing there with a sharp knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a woof.
"Hi Mommy!" Knuckles replied strictly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the beans," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra water. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Knuckles replied slowly. "Do we have the chopped liver ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his mother replied frenetically. "It only has to boil for seventy-two minutes."
"Okay," Knuckles replied warily. "I'm gonna go to the pool room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some hors d'oeuvre in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pool room first?" he begged.
"It looks just like it always does," his mother replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Knuckles responded, as he sat down to his hors d'oeuvre. "Let's hang lots of rose balloons and cover the armoire and the dresser with pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother boisterously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Mary Lou Eklund. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"Golly whiz," Knuckles responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a chortle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."