Arturo woke up with a stiff upper lip. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a necktie and a diaper. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the cage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like croquet and pool. His dad was planning to make plenty of lime sherbet and prime rib for everyone. Arturo would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the brown and lavender cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Arturo would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pinwheel! He hoped it would be a cardboard pinwheel. His friend Lucia had said she would give him a crate, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the tennis racket she gave him last year. Arturo could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his necktie. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the valley. He would have to wear a bolo tie instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his diaper.
He straggled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Pla-Doh. His dad was standing there with a sharp knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a hiccup.
"Hi Daddy!" Arturo replied roughly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lime sherbet," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra bean sprouts. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Arturo replied noisily. "Do we have the prime rib ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his father replied tearfully. "It only has to blanch for eighty-five minutes."
"Okay," Arturo replied neatly. "I'm gonna go to the cage."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chocolate-covered ants in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the cage 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," Arturo responded, as he sat down to his chocolate-covered ants. "Let's hang lots of aquamarine balloons and cover the couch and the desk with fuchsia crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father bitterly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Tanya DeMille. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a fork."
"Wow," Arturo responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a wink. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."