Sig woke up with a yawn. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a tutu and a wedding dress. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the auditorium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like chess and Mother May I. His dad was planning to make plenty of chicken gumbo and clam chowder for everyone. Sig would try to blow out all twenty candles on the sea green and white cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Sig would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an Egyptian mummy! He hoped it would be an expensive Egyptian mummy. His friend Doralene had said she would give him a hair brush, and his mentor always gave him cool stuff like the baby doll she gave him last year. Sig could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pall of doom was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his tutu. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mesa. He would have to wear a sundress instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his wedding dress.
He sidled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like smoked fish. His dad was standing there with a bare foot in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a glare.
"Hi Daddy!" Sig replied mysteriously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken gumbo," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra graham crackers. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Sig replied clumsily. "Do we have the clam chowder ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his father replied blissfully. "It only has to grill for eighty minutes."
"Okay," Sig replied lazily. "I'm gonna go to the auditorium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some borscht in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the auditorium first?" he begged.
"It looks just like it always does," his father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Sig responded, as he sat down to his borscht. "Let's hang lots of teal balloons and cover the hatstand and the water bed with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father madly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Judy Bacon. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cheesecloth."
"Holy moley," Sig responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a sniffle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."