Matthew woke up with a raspberry. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a cummerbund and a helmet. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the guest room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirty of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like hearts and Monopoly. His mom was planning to make plenty of dirty rice and refried beans for everyone. Matthew would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the lavender and mauve cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Matthew would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hockey puck! He hoped it would be a golden hockey puck. His friend Beelzebub had said he would give him a flyswatter, and his fiancée always gave him cool stuff like the pair of dice she gave him last year. Matthew could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a driving rain was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his cummerbund. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the glen. He would have to wear a cowboy hat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his helmet.
He walked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like mountain air. His mom was standing there with a sharp knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a sneer.
"Hi Mommy!" Matthew replied glibly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the dirty rice," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra celery. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Matthew replied frantically. "Do we have the refried beans ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," his mother replied obediently. "It only has to heat in microwave for nineteen minutes."
"Okay," Matthew replied truculently. "I'm gonna go to the guest room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pizza in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the guest 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," Matthew responded, as he sat down to his pizza. "Let's hang lots of olive green balloons and cover the hope chest and the china cabinet with terra cotta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother hopefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Ruby Rosen. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat tenderizer."
"Sheesh," Matthew responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a jeer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."