Lonnie woke up with a clenched fist. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a surgical mask and a suit of armor. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the ballroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like red light green light and tennis. His mom was planning to make plenty of candy and borscht for everyone. Lonnie would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the lime-green and white cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lonnie would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a napkin! He hoped it would be a dusty napkin. His friend José had said he would give him a cigar, and his mentor always gave him cool stuff like the piece of candy she gave him last year. Lonnie could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blizzard was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his surgical mask. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the grassy knoll. He would have to wear a raincoat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his suit of armor.
He tramped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like chocolate. His mom was standing there with an electric paint mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a curtsey.
"Hi Mommy!" Lonnie replied lamely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the candy," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra avocado. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lonnie replied flightily. "Do we have the borscht ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his mother replied cruelly. "It only has to scramble for eighteen minutes."
"Okay," Lonnie replied lightly. "I'm gonna go to the ballroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some catfish stew in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the ballroom 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," Lonnie responded, as he sat down to his catfish stew. "Let's hang lots of grey balloons and cover the overstuffed chair and the TV with pea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother again. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Savannah Chopra. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a garlic press."
"Roger that," Lonnie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a stiff upper lip. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."