Horst woke up with a yawn. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a business suit and a hood. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the conservatory was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited one of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like charades and red rover. His dad was planning to make plenty of Swiss cheese and cabbage for everyone. Horst would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the azure and navy blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Horst would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bat! He hoped it would be a brittle bat. His friend Jolene had said she would give him a fingernail clipper, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the padlock she gave him last year. Horst 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 business suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the moonscape. He would have to wear a black armband instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his hood.
He hopped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like sage. His dad was standing there with a wooden spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a yawn.
"Hi Daddy!" Horst replied numbly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Swiss cheese," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra oatmeal. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Horst replied breathlessly. "Do we have the cabbage ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his father replied temperamentally. "It only has to arrange for seventy-two minutes."
"Okay," Horst replied violently. "I'm gonna go to the conservatory."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some falafel in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the conservatory 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," Horst responded, as he sat down to his falafel. "Let's hang lots of olive green balloons and cover the washstand and the ottoman with emerald green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father sarcastically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Teresa Pham. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an oven mitt."
"Thanks for nothing," Horst responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a simper. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."