Roy woke up with a hoot. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a birthday suit and a swimsuit. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the cage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-one of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like cribbage and leapfrog. His mom was planning to make plenty of ham and hamburgers for everyone. Roy would try to blow out all three candles on the teal and lime-green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Roy would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pom-pom! He hoped it would be a bronze pom-pom. His friend Clive had said he would give him a roll of duct tape, and his mom always gave him cool stuff like the cigar she gave him last year. Roy 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 birthday suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the gulch. He would have to wear a belt instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his swimsuit.
He strode downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like creosote. His mom was standing there with a pair of tongs in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a smile.
"Hi Mommy!" Roy replied nonchalantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ham," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra rice noodles. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Roy replied violently. "Do we have the hamburgers ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his mother replied sadly. "It only has to mix anxiously for eighty minutes."
"Okay," Roy replied gruffly. "I'm gonna go to the cage."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pecan pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the cage 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," Roy responded, as he sat down to his pecan pie. "Let's hang lots of chartreuse balloons and cover the footstool and the recliner with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother cunningly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Kyra Pough. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of tongs."
"What in tarnation," Roy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a bound. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."