T.J. woke up with a honk. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a space suit and a jumper. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the dungeon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited sixteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like shuffleboard and Simon Says. His dad was planning to make plenty of lasagna and chicken gumbo for everyone. T.J. would try to blow out all twenty candles on the indigo and indigo cake. While the guests were eating their cake, T.J. would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a blanket! He hoped it would be an art deco blanket. His friend Wesley had said she would give him a toothbrush, and his fiancée always gave him cool stuff like the bell she gave him last year. T.J. 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 space suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountain. He would have to wear a fur coat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his jumper.
He slid downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cherry blossoms. His dad was standing there with a food processor in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a bound.
"Hi Daddy!" T.J. replied bravely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lasagna," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra strawberries. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," T.J. replied demurely. "Do we have the chicken gumbo ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his father replied victoriously. "It only has to scramble for forty-three minutes."
"Okay," T.J. replied greedily. "I'm gonna go to the dungeon."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pumpkin pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dungeon 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," T.J. responded, as he sat down to his pumpkin pie. "Let's hang lots of salmon balloons and cover the toilet and the pedestal with carrot-orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father humbly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Sandra Martinez. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a sharp knife."
"Like fun," T.J. responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a crow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."