Garrett woke up with a backward glance. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a watch and a set of scrubs. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Cootie and battleship. His mom was planning to make plenty of cornbread and ham for everyone. Garrett would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the aqua and burgundy cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Garrett would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a ping-pong paddle! He hoped it would be a brightly-colored ping-pong paddle. His friend Hunter had said he would give him a bird feeder, and his friend always gave him cool stuff like the picture she gave him last year. Garrett could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pelting rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his watch. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the pasture. He would have to wear a gown instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his set of scrubs.
He zipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like bleach. His mom was standing there with a dish cloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a glare.
"Hi Mommy!" Garrett replied uselessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cornbread," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra carrots. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Garrett replied lamely. "Do we have the ham ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his mother replied rapidly. "It only has to steam for fifty-six minutes."
"Okay," Garrett replied frenetically. "I'm gonna go to the bedroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fried eggs in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the bedroom 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," Garrett responded, as he sat down to his fried eggs. "Let's hang lots of purple balloons and cover the dining table and the dresser with indigo crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother lamely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Eve Bromley. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a foot."
"Holy smokeroo," Garrett responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sigh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."