Angelo woke up with a smack. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a set of camo fatigues and a bathrobe. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the family room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like duck duck goose and rummy. His dad was planning to make plenty of ramen noodles and burritos for everyone. Angelo would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the amber and khaki cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Angelo would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a peach! He hoped it would be a fabulous peach. His friend Chris had said she would give him an ashtray, and his mother-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the amulet she gave him last year. Angelo could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a driving rain was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his set of camo fatigues. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the circus tent. He would have to wear a beard instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bathrobe.
He zoomed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a compost pile. His dad was standing there with a whisk in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a shrug.
"Hi Daddy!" Angelo replied cautiously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ramen noodles," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cornstarch. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Angelo replied elatedly. "Do we have the burritos ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," his father replied lamely. "It only has to poach lightly for fifty-two minutes."
"Okay," Angelo replied oddly. "I'm gonna go to the family room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cinnamon toast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the family 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," Angelo responded, as he sat down to his cinnamon toast. "Let's hang lots of jet black balloons and cover the ironing board and the crib with striped crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father sourly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Antonia Owens. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat tenderizer."
"Please," Angelo responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a squint. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."