Jeffrey woke up with a hug. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of sandals and a beehive. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the kitchen was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like backgammon and hopscotch. His dad was planning to make plenty of corn on the cob and sushi for everyone. Jeffrey would try to blow out all nine candles on the teal and scarlet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jeffrey would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a knitting needle! He hoped it would be a wet knitting needle. His friend Amber had said she would give him a pain pill, and his mom always gave him cool stuff like the balloon she gave him last year. Jeffrey could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of sandals. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the pasture. He would have to wear a turtleneck instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his beehive.
He waltzed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like anise. His dad was standing there with a whisk in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a grimace.
"Hi Daddy!" Jeffrey replied humbly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the corn on the cob," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra dill pickles. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jeffrey replied admiringly. "Do we have the sushi ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," his father replied nervously. "It only has to grill for nine minutes."
"Okay," Jeffrey replied hungrily. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some crumb cake 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," Jeffrey responded, as he sat down to his crumb cake. "Let's hang lots of aquamarine balloons and cover the canopy bed and the cushion with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father thankfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Gertrude Oglesby. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a fork."
"Great balls of fire," Jeffrey responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a guffaw. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."