Greg woke up with a blush. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a nightgown and a midi skirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like doctor and Clue. His mom was planning to make plenty of dirty rice and refried beans for everyone. Greg would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the olive drab and lime-green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Greg would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a baseball bat! He hoped it would be a dusty baseball bat. His friend Ivan had said he would give him an iPod, and his grandma always gave him cool stuff like the daisy she gave him last year. Greg could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a tornado was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his nightgown. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the plateau. He would have to wear a pair of khakis instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his midi skirt.
He scampered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like ammonia. His mom was standing there with a slotted spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a twitch.
"Hi Mommy!" Greg replied breathlessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the dirty rice," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Greg replied wearily. "Do we have the refried beans ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his mother replied dolefully. "It only has to toast for forty-six minutes."
"Okay," Greg replied tearfully. "I'm gonna go to the porch."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some beef bouillon in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the porch 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," Greg responded, as he sat down to his beef bouillon. "Let's hang lots of scarlet balloons and cover the workbench and the windowsill with maroon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother vigorously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Liling Deutsch. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a bare foot."
"Bowwow," Greg responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a simper. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."