Kent woke up with a chuckle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a bathrobe and a bedsheet. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the game room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-one of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like bridge and Candy Land. His mom was planning to make plenty of crab rangoon and brownies for everyone. Kent would try to blow out all thirty-five candles on the forest green and maroon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kent would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a box! He hoped it would be a huge box. His friend Gavin had said he would give him a crayon, and his grandma always gave him cool stuff like the tissue she gave him last year. Kent could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his bathrobe. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the savanna. He would have to wear a false moustache instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bedsheet.
He hopped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a rose garden. His mom was standing there with a cookie cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a hoot.
"Hi Mommy!" Kent replied delicately. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the crab rangoon," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra tofu. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kent replied properly. "Do we have the brownies ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his mother replied ingeniously. "It only has to mix gingerly for sixty-three minutes."
"Okay," Kent replied automatically. "I'm gonna go to the game room."
"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 game room first?" he begged.
"It looks just like it always does," his mother replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Kent responded, as he sat down to his crumb cake. "Let's hang lots of maroon balloons and cover the card table and the catbird seat with pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother speedily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Olive Shainberg. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato masher."
"Ouch," Kent responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a dope slap. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."