Cedric woke up with a hoot. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a headband and a midi skirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the atrium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like jacks and battleship. His mom was planning to make plenty of roast beef and pizza for everyone. Cedric would try to blow out all four candles on the jade and lime-green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Cedric would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a china doll! He hoped it would be a brightly-colored china doll. His friend Henry had said he would give him a football, and his grandfather always gave him cool stuff like the ticket she gave him last year. Cedric could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his headband. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the forest. He would have to wear a pair of boxing gloves instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his midi skirt.
He skittered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Old Spice. His mom was standing there with a melon baller in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a sneer.
"Hi Mommy!" Cedric replied carefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast beef," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra macaroni. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Cedric replied ruefully. "Do we have the pizza ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his mother replied hopefully. "It only has to slow cook for fourteen minutes."
"Okay," Cedric replied suavely. "I'm gonna go to the atrium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pancakes in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the atrium 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," Cedric responded, as he sat down to his pancakes. "Let's hang lots of aquamarine balloons and cover the sofa and the wooden crate with emerald green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother effortlessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Olga Ostrander. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Gee whillikers," Cedric responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a hoot. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."