Kirby woke up with a finger gun. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a set of pink foam curlers and a bulletproof vest. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the auditorium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like red light green light and leapfrog. His dad was planning to make plenty of hot dogs and chicken gumbo for everyone. Kirby would try to blow out all twenty-seven candles on the sea green and purple cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kirby would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a camera! He hoped it would be a damaged camera. His friend Trixie had said she would give him a bucket, and his dad always gave him cool stuff like the fishing pole she gave him last year. Kirby could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his set of pink foam curlers. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountain. He would have to wear a ring instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bulletproof vest.
He rushed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cotton candy. His dad was standing there with a potato masher in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a stiff upper lip.
"Hi Daddy!" Kirby replied warily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hot dogs," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra wasabi powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kirby replied properly. "Do we have the chicken gumbo ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his father replied narrowly. "It only has to spoon into container for sixty-two minutes."
"Okay," Kirby replied steadily. "I'm gonna go to the auditorium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fish and chips in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the auditorium 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," Kirby responded, as he sat down to his fish and chips. "Let's hang lots of sea green balloons and cover the wine rack and the ottoman with periwinkle crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father roughly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Gloria Geiger. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a food processor."
"Cheers," Kirby responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a shiver. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."