Pablo woke up with a beam. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a jogging suit and a pair of toe shoes. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the kitchen was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like leapfrog and musical chairs. His dad was planning to make plenty of French fries and chicken soup for everyone. Pablo would try to blow out all two candles on the brown and red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Pablo would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cookie! He hoped it would be a miniature cookie. His friend Nellie had said she would give him a model airplane, and his sister-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the rag she gave him last year. Pablo 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 jogging suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the ridge. He would have to wear a poodle skirt instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of toe shoes.
He strolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like used books. His dad was standing there with a ladle in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a shrug.
"Hi Daddy!" Pablo replied surreptitiously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the French fries," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra soy sauce. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Pablo replied ignobly. "Do we have the chicken soup ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his father replied resignedly. "It only has to allow to rise in warm place for several hours for ten minutes."
"Okay," Pablo replied neatly. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some doughnuts in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the kitchen 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," Pablo responded, as he sat down to his doughnuts. "Let's hang lots of olive green balloons and cover the nightstand and the settee with yellow crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father humbly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Clio Deutsch. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"Poof," Pablo responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a smirk. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."