Ollie woke up with a chortle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a fez and a pair of suspenders. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the library was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eleven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like red light green light and ring around the rosie. His mom was planning to make plenty of tuna casserole and pecan pie for everyone. Ollie would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the metallic red and blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ollie would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a chess set! He hoped it would be a flaky chess set. His friend Bradley had said he would give him a bird bath, and his grandfather always gave him cool stuff like the cactus plant she gave him last year. Ollie 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 fez. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the buffalo wallow. He would have to wear a ring instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of suspenders.
He dove downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pipe tobacco. His mom was standing there with a pastry blender in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a hiccup.
"Hi Mommy!" Ollie replied smoothly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tuna casserole," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra mozzarella cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ollie replied zestily. "Do we have the pecan pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his mother replied anxiously. "It only has to poach lightly for sixty-six minutes."
"Okay," Ollie replied perkily. "I'm gonna go to the library."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lasagna in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the library 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," Ollie responded, as he sat down to his lasagna. "Let's hang lots of rose balloons and cover the water bed and the pillow with brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother frenetically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Henrietta Nakamura. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pastry blender."
"Boy oh boy," Ollie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a caress. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."