Surprise Party

We have been friends since we were in elementary school. So it didn't seem odd when Jim invited me to his son's ninth birthday party, but I didn't know what I was in for! It was the craziest birthday party ever. Everything seemed normal, there were eleven wrapped packages on the table.  But I should have realized that not all was going to be, well traditional when Arron (the birthday boy) made his debut in his birthday suit.



The guest were marveling over the Arron's choice of suits when, his ant Jean saw him she didn't say anything but, she secretly wished she had stayed home writing poetry. Jim was late, as usual, but as soon as Jim  saw Arron's attire Jim thought to himself that, his tuxedo was definitely out of place, now, Amanda, Arron's mother, was mortified.  But Arron s attendance in his natural state was not completely unexpected although, Arron had  appeared bare in public only once before, Arron was an odd child, loveable but odd.  Most little children bring home live frogs or lizards or injured birds and beseech their parents to keep them. Arron would bring home dead animals and beseech his parents to keep them, his argument was logical enough. Since they were already dead, he would say, they would not require feeding or walking and no vet bills.



But these were not the only different, well maybe bizarre would be a more accurate word, activities that he engaged in. I remember, when Arron was six he was suspended from school because he one day, he asked the teacher for permission to go to the bathroom and the teacher gave him permission, when Arron came out of the bathroom he was wearing only a smile. While the other children found Arron's  exposure quite amusing the teacher did not. When Arron's parents, Jim and Amanda, arrived at the school, and were apprised of the situation they completely understood the teacher's grievance and accepted Arron's suspension without protest.



When, Jim and Amanda, brought Arron home they explained to him that although it was acceptable for him to be nude in the house it was not acceptable to be nude in public. Then they sent Arron to his room to think about his behavior in school, but by now they were getting used to Arron's odd behavior. It was only one month before this that Arron gave a frog Mouth to Mouth Resuscitation, and before this it was Halloween and Arron decide to dress up as the planet earth and wanted his parents to hand out air purifiers, instead of candy. And before that--well by now I'm sure that you understand the Arron is an odd, but loveable child.



Now you need to understand, Arron was not only a odd child but introvert one also, he didn't want the latest Harry Potter book, video or computer games, nor did he even want toys, in fact he didn't even want a birthday party at all. He only wanted one thing. One thing more than all the hundreds of dead frogs that he ever brought home, more than eating live spiders, well almost. What he wanted was a trip to the local morgue. Amanda was taking aback by this strange request but Jim, ( well the stories that I could tell you about Jim when he was in elementary school, it would seem the Acorn didn't fall far from that tree-but that's another story), Jim, however, didn't think it a strange request, actually Jim thought that every child should know about cadavers, but one story at a time, let me finish telling you about the party.



Amanda was dumbfound, at the sight of her unclothed son on public display, to the point of speechlessness. Jim,on the other hand, handled the situation with his usual aloofness Jim simply ask Arron if he would please accompany him to the wardrobe department so Arron could make some minor adjustments to his attire. After Jim and Arron emerged Arron was ready to play dissect the rat. Amanda , however, though it might be better if they went swimming so the children put on their bathing suits and jumped into the pool. After they had swam for a couple of hours it was time for the children to start going home and the parents began arriving and one by one they wished Arron a happy birthday and left. Soon it was my turn to leave and after I kissed Arron goodnight and wished him a happy birthday I left. As soon As I was out of the door I yelled SO ARRON IS NINE YEARS OLD TODAY--HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARRON--WITH LOVE! I can't wait until next year!