Derek woke up with a pucker. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a hood and a coat of mail. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the atrium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like croquet and red light green light. His mom was planning to make plenty of sauerkraut and chopped liver for everyone. Derek would try to blow out all twenty candles on the periwinkle and grey cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Derek would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a computer! He hoped it would be a flexible computer. His friend Calvin had said he would give him a lollipop, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the comic book she gave him last year. Derek could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a driving rain was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his hood. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the oasis. He would have to wear a surgical mask instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his coat of mail.
He scampered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cigarettes. His mom was standing there with an egg cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a snuffle.
"Hi Mommy!" Derek replied tenderly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the sauerkraut," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra kidney beans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Derek replied deliberately. "Do we have the chopped liver ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his mother replied noisily. "It only has to mix cautiously for twenty-one minutes."
"Okay," Derek replied clumsily. "I'm gonna go to the atrium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some jambalaya 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," Derek responded, as he sat down to his jambalaya. "Let's hang lots of navy blue balloons and cover the canopy bed and the hatstand with terra cotta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother threateningly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Jody Sharpe. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spatula."
"Outstanding," Derek responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a yawn. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."