Oscar woke up with a sneeze. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in an evening gown and a bracelet. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the salon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like Monopoly and battleship. His mom was planning to make plenty of steak and clam chowder for everyone. Oscar would try to blow out all thirty-five candles on the teal and polka dotted cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Oscar would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a dead pigeon! He hoped it would be a dirty dead pigeon. His friend Horace had said he would give him a protest sign, and his mother-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the piece of candy she gave him last year. Oscar could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his evening gown. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the savanna. He would have to wear a miniskirt instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bracelet.
He crawled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like strawberries. His mom was standing there with a dull knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a snicker.
"Hi Mommy!" Oscar replied sourly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the steak," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra pork and beans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Oscar replied merrily. "Do we have the clam chowder ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his mother replied gleefully. "It only has to sear for three minutes."
"Okay," Oscar replied defiantly. "I'm gonna go to the salon."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken chow mein in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the salon 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," Oscar responded, as he sat down to his chicken chow mein. "Let's hang lots of mauve balloons and cover the carpet and the washstand with olive drab crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother peevishly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Terri Peralta. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric paint mixer."
"Crackers," Oscar responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a blush. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."