Zack woke up with an evil eye. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of knickers and a name tag. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the billiard room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirty of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like blackjack and battleship. His mom was planning to make plenty of wienerschnitzel and hot dogs for everyone. Zack would try to blow out all five candles on the camouflage and khaki cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Zack would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pipe! He hoped it would be an archaic pipe. His friend Upton had said he would give him a tennis racket, and his mom always gave him cool stuff like the cardboard box she gave him last year. Zack could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of knickers. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountaintop. He would have to wear a romper instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his name tag.
He blundered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a locker room. His mom was standing there with an egg cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a power fist.
"Hi Mommy!" Zack replied majestically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the wienerschnitzel," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cream of mushroom soup. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Zack replied strangely. "Do we have the hot dogs ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his mother replied irritably. "It only has to melt for twenty-two minutes."
"Okay," Zack replied lazily. "I'm gonna go to the billiard room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some crab rangoon in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the billiard room 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," Zack responded, as he sat down to his crab rangoon. "Let's hang lots of orange balloons and cover the TV and the cushion with aqua crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother perkily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Bonnie Vickers. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato masher."
"Shazam," Zack responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sneeze. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."