(as retold by William ‘Bill’, link shown above)
The old man woke up early. It was his birthday. "I've got just about everything ready for the kids when they come for my special day. They should get here about noon." He had plenty of food for lunch, and the kinds of drinks he knew they liked. Noon came and went, but the doorbell didn't ring, the phone was silent. "They must have had to detour around that roadwork up north," he thought. "Probably be here by two." About three he wondered what might be keeping them. “I better cover that birthday cake so it'll still be fresh for them when they get here. We can have it for supper desert." He sat on the front porch the rest of the afternoon, where he would be able to see their car making the turn down by the old schoolhouse. "They'll probably be too tired to go out to eat when they get here after such a rough day on the road," he thought. "I better get some things ready for them to have here." Time flew by while he puttered in the kitchen. Only when he noticed it was getting dark outside did he realize it was well past supper time. He sat in the lounge chair by the front door with the window partly open so he would hear them when they pulled in the driveway. When he woke up it wasn't his birthday any more.
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