Happy Birthday Carl!
By Snazzo
The doorbell rang and Carl opened up the door.
"Happy birthday Carl!" the gang cried out.
"Hi guys!" Carl responded. "Thanks for coming. Come on in."
Jimmy, Sheen, Cindy and Libby came in the house, carrying their presents. They walked through the front room and into the kitchen, which was decorated with banners and balloons. Mr. Wheezer was just hanging up another banner on the wall.
"Hello kids!" he smiled.
"Hi there Mister Wheezer," they replied.
The gang put their presents on the counter, where some other presents sat. Mrs. Wheezer came in with a camera. "First a picture or two!" They lined up in under the Happy Birthday banner and smiled. Mrs. Wheezer took some pictures then sighed "My baby is getting so old!"
"Well, we'll leave you guys to it!" Mr. Wheezer said. "Let us know when you want the pizza!"
"Pizza, oh boy!" Sheen said.
"What should we do first, guys?" Carl asked.
"Presents!" Sheen said.
"There's the pizza …"
"And presents!" Sheen said.
"And pin the tail on the llama …"
"And presents!" Sheen said.
"And cake of course …"
"And presents!" Sheen said.
"I agree with Sheen," Jimmy said. "Presents first. It's a bit untraditional but trust me Carl, you're going to want to open the presents first."
"Only too glad to!" Carl said.
Carl opened his relatives presents first. From his Aunt Maybell he got a new set of bedding (with llamas on it.) From his Uncle Benard he received a jigsaw puzzle (with a llama on it.) From grandma and grandpa he got a greeting card and twenty dollars in cash. (Always nice.)
"My turn! My turn!" Sheen said. "Here you go, ol' buddy."
Sheen's present was wrapped in Ultralord giftwrap. Carl opened it up. "Sheen! It's amazing! I didn't even know they made them!" Carl exclaimed. "Where on earth did you get it?"
"I didn't get it, I made it!" Sheen declared proudly. "With an Ultralord 'Make-Your-Own-Action-Figure' Kit. Not all the pieces worked so I had to specialize them down in dad's shop."
Carl held up for all to see a Llama Boy action figure, complete with crossing guard uniform and Stop Sign.
"Very nice Sheen!" Libby said.
"Oh, it's way better than nice!" Carl exclaimed. "It's perfect!"
"Now Carl, remember," Sheen said. "Some action figures are meant to be played with, but others are meant to treasure in mint condition."
"I'll remember."
"Here you go Carl," Libby said. "Happy birthday!"
Carl opened Libby's present. "Awesome Libby!" It was a CD. "Music For Llama Lovers! Made by Libby Folfax."
"Yup." Libby nodded. "I searched all over the Internet for Llama songs. There's fourteen classics. From 'Come on, Llama, Light My Fire' to 'Wake Me Up Before You Baa-Baa.'"
"I've got to put this on right now," Carl said. He went to the kitchen counter radio and put the disc in. The Beattles' 'Hey, Llama,' came on.
"It's got a good beat and you can dance to it," Cindy said. "Here's my present Carl, it's not so creative as Sheen and Libby's but I think you're going to like it."
Carl opened up the birthday card. "Thanks Cindy!" he said. "Wow! How did you afford that?"
"Oh, saved up my allowance and some babysitting jobs," Cindy said.
"Look guys!" Carl had a 20 Candy Bar gift certificate.
"Let's go right now!" Sheen said.
"Calm down Sheen," Libby said gently.
"Don't worry guys," Carl said. "Mom had Sam make one of his famous chocolate and banana ice cream cakes for me. It's in the freezer right now."
"Here you are Carl," Jimmy handed him a package. "Happy birthday!"
Carl opened it up. "Wow, Jim. Just what I always wanted. A button." In the package was a small device with a big red button.
"Push it Carl," Jimmy said.
"I dunno Jim," Carl replied.
"This isn't going to do something weird like MY birthday, is it Jimmy?" Libby asked.
"No, it's completely safe," Jimmy said.
"Yeah, right Neutron," Cindy said. "We've all heard that one before!"
Carl pushed the button. He heard Vox say "Initializing site to site matter transmission beam." Next to Carl there was a shimmer and a glow. He stepped back nervously and then suddenly there stood Elke.
"Elke?!" Carl gasped, amazed.
"Carl Wheezer!" Elke cried, and hugged him tight. "Oh, Carl, it is so good to see you again! Happy Birthday!" She gave him a great big kiss.
"So that's the famous Elke," Cindy said. "She's kinda cute."
"Yes she is," Sheen agreed. Then looked at Libby. "But not as cute as Libby here."
"Nice save, Sheen," Libby smiled.
"How'd you do that Jim?" Carl asked.
"My teleportation pods," Jimmy explained. "Remember the ones that gave me Mister Wuggles' head? I worked on them and now you don't need the pods to teleport. Kind of like the transporters on Star Trek."
"I've been e-mailing Jimmy planning this, Carl" Elke said. "I had to get my parent's permission to come visit again. And here, I have a birthday present for you!"
Carl took Elke's present. "Aw, thanks Elke. But seeing you again is present enough."
"Isnt' he the sweetest thing?" Elke said, and kissed him again.
Carl opened up the present. "Wow, Elke. Chocolate llamas! Where did you find them?"
"At a store near home," Elke explained. Then she noticed the music, 'I Wanna Dance With Some Llama' by Whitney Houston. "Oh Carl, this is a wonderful song!"
"Yes it is," Carl agreed. "Libby made the CD for me."
"Oh! I am being rude!" Elke said. She shook Libby and Cindy's hands. "I'm Elke Ekberg. Carl has told me so much about you. The music expert, you must be Liberty Folfax!"
"Nice to meet you, Elke," Libby said. "Call me Libby or Libs, though."
"And you must be Cynthia Vortex, the smartest girl in class," Elke said, shaking Cindy's hand.
"Call me Cindy!" Cindy said. "Carl said that?"
"Oh yes, we e-mail and chat all the time," Elke said. She turned to Carl. "Let's dance!"
"You want to dance with me?" Carl asked. "This isn't some trick, some dream, one of Jimmy's experiments gone terribly wrong?"
"Oh, just dance Carl!" Cindy said, and grabbed Jimmy's hand.
The kids danced through several songs until the CD was over.
"Hey, Elke, you're a pretty good dancer!" Libby said.
"Oh, thank you, Liberty," Elke said. "I mean Libby. I don't get much chance to practice at home, just dancing by myself in my room."
Carl's parents came into the room.
"Mom, dad, this is Elke," Carl said.
"Nice to meet you, dear," Mrs. Wheezer said. "You guys must be thirsty after all that dancing. Let me get some punch."
"Hello, Elke, did you have a good trip?" Mr. Wheezer asked.
"Oh, it took but an instant, thanks to Jimmy," Elke replied.
"You guys aren't surprised?" Carl asked.
Mr. Wheezer laughed. "No, son, Jimmy asked us if it would be okay."
Mrs. Wheezer served punch, then took a few more pictures.
"Oo, Carl, I hope you can send me a copy of those pictures," Elke said.
"Sure thing, Elke," Carl told her.
"Are you guys ready for some pizza?" Mr. Wheezer asked.
"You bet, Mr. Wheezer!" Sheen answered. "I'm always ready for some pizza."
"Uh, Carl, no offense," Jimmy said, "But this isn't one of your mom's special pizzas with soy mulch on it, or something."
"That would be good, Jim," Carl said. "You don't know what you're missing! But I didn't think you guys would like that. Dad's going to go get a couple pizzas from Pizza Clown."
Mr. Wheezer took some requests for toppings then took off. The gang talked while they waited, and then snarfed down the pizza when it arrived.
They played pin the tail on the llama for awhile. Sheen suggested they play Spin the Bottle and rather than being smacked by Libby, everyone laughed nervously and grinned at each other. Elke didn't know what Spin the Bottle was, so Carl whispered it to her.
"Oo, that sounds like a great game!" Elke said.
"Elke!" Carl blushed.
But Elke was sensible. "Perhaps some other time?"
Mrs. Wheezer brought out the cake and put the candles on it. She took some more pictures. Everyone sang Happy Birthday to Carl and he blew out the candles. Mrs. Wheezer then cut the cake and served it.
"What did you wish for Carl?" Elke asked.
"You're not supposed to tell!" Sheen said. "Or your wish won't come true!"
"That's a misconception," Jimmy told him. "Whether you tell or not tell, the chances of your wish coming true remain constant."
"Neutron!" Cindy complained. "Leave it to you to analyze a wish!"
"What did you wish for Carl?" Libby asked.
"That I could spend the rest of my life with you guys, my best friends," Carl replied.
The End