Gavin woke up with a hiccup. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a set of pink foam curlers and an eel costume. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like baseball and cribbage. His mom was planning to make plenty of fish and chips and scrambled eggs for everyone. Gavin would try to blow out all four candles on the purple and pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Gavin would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a toilet seat! He hoped it would be an amazing toilet seat. His friend Eric had said he would give him an egg shell, and his mentor always gave him cool stuff like the coconut she gave him last year. Gavin could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his set of pink foam curlers. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the crime scene. He would have to wear a pith helmet instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his eel costume.
He rolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like sausage. His mom was standing there with a cheesecloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a smack.
"Hi Mommy!" Gavin replied flightily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fish and chips," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra jalapeños. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Gavin replied trustingly. "Do we have the scrambled eggs ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his mother replied fervently. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for fifty-two minutes."
"Okay," Gavin replied rapidly. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cornbread in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the living 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," Gavin responded, as he sat down to his cornbread. "Let's hang lots of azure balloons and cover the card table and the wooden crate with burgundy crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother grimly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Renee Sorovich. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Rubbish," Gavin responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a shrug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."