Kelly woke up with a snuffle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a smartwatch and a bridal gown. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the solarium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like checkers and rummy. His mom was planning to make plenty of fried eggs and succotash for everyone. Kelly would try to blow out all nine candles on the purple and aquamarine cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kelly would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a rubber stamp! He hoped it would be a slimy rubber stamp. His friend Nickolas had said he would give him a bird feeder, and his wife always gave him cool stuff like the telephone she gave him last year. Kelly could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an earthquake was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his smartwatch. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the briar patch. He would have to wear a sundress instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bridal gown.
He slithered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cinnamon. His mom was standing there with an electric mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a face palm.
"Hi Mommy!" Kelly replied shakily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fried eggs," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra egg white. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kelly replied urgently. "Do we have the succotash ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his mother replied sharply. "It only has to shake for eleven minutes."
"Okay," Kelly replied courteously. "I'm gonna go to the solarium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some beans in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the solarium 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," Kelly responded, as he sat down to his beans. "Let's hang lots of sea green balloons and cover the workbench and the dishwasher with carrot-orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother warily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Lauren Vogel. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"Hell's bells," Kelly responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a curtsey. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."