Donald woke up with a beam. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a locket and a tinfoil hat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the rec room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like Monopoly and crazy eights. His mom was planning to make plenty of biscuits and gravy and cabbage rolls for everyone. Donald would try to blow out all fourteen candles on the lavender and jet black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Donald would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fossil! He hoped it would be a porcelain fossil. His friend Siggy had said he would give him a jar of olives, and his aunt always gave him cool stuff like the piece of candy she gave him last year. Donald could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his locket. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the cliff. He would have to wear a tie instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his tinfoil hat.
He zipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like wet paint. His mom was standing there with a spatula in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a hiccup.
"Hi Mommy!" Donald replied again. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the biscuits and gravy," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra bean sprouts. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Donald replied neatly. "Do we have the cabbage rolls ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his mother replied gently. "It only has to freeze for ninety minutes."
"Okay," Donald replied calmly. "I'm gonna go to the rec room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some mashed potatoes in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the rec 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," Donald responded, as he sat down to his mashed potatoes. "Let's hang lots of crimson balloons and cover the coat rack and the carpet with orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother resignedly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Bethany Sitting Bird. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Stoked," Donald responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a squint. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."