Manfred woke up with a sneer. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of cycling shorts and a tattoo. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like red light green light and treasure hunt. His mom was planning to make plenty of dirty rice and chicken chow mein for everyone. Manfred would try to blow out all six candles on the crimson and polka dotted cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Manfred would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a flashlight! He hoped it would be a ridged flashlight. His friend Nickolas had said he would give him an iPod, and his grandfather always gave him cool stuff like the microscope she gave him last year. Manfred could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of cycling shorts. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the swamp. He would have to wear a cloak instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his tattoo.
He skidded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like ammonia. His mom was standing there with a whisk in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a fist bump.
"Hi Mommy!" Manfred replied grandly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the dirty rice," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra egg yolks. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Manfred replied pitifully. "Do we have the chicken chow mein ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his mother replied dubiously. "It only has to whirl for eighty-five minutes."
"Okay," Manfred replied innocently. "I'm gonna go to the closet."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some banana split in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the closet 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," Manfred responded, as he sat down to his banana split. "Let's hang lots of striped balloons and cover the washing machine and the carpet with beige crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother gingerly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Lindsay Frinklehofer. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"Phooey," Manfred responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a roar. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."