Phineas woke up with a finger gun. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a hair net and a blazer. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like red rover and hopscotch. His dad was planning to make plenty of scrambled eggs and candy for everyone. Phineas would try to blow out all four candles on the red and navy blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Phineas would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a diagram! He hoped it would be a cardboard diagram. His friend Gabriela had said she would give him a stuffed bunny, and his mentor always gave him cool stuff like the feather duster she gave him last year. Phineas 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 hair net. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the hayfield. He would have to wear a pair of roller skates instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his blazer.
He capered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like chocolate cake. His dad was standing there with a dull knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a twitch.
"Hi Daddy!" Phineas replied quickly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the scrambled eggs," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra mushrooms. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Phineas replied cautiously. "Do we have the candy ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his father replied diligently. "It only has to melt for fifteen minutes."
"Okay," Phineas replied stupidly. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some shrimp in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the living 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," Phineas responded, as he sat down to his shrimp. "Let's hang lots of brown balloons and cover the filing cabinet and the washstand with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father demurely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Joanne Tannenbaum. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a turkey baster."
"Sieg Heil," Phineas responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a pound of the chest. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."