Alton woke up with a simper. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a coat and a sari. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the pantry was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirty of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like hide and seek and backgammon. His mom was planning to make plenty of fondue and popcorn for everyone. Alton would try to blow out all ten candles on the magenta and jet black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Alton would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Big Gulp! He hoped it would be a primitive Big Gulp. His friend Luther had said he would give him a notepad, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the bowl she gave him last year. Alton could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the forest. He would have to wear a pair of safety glasses instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his sari.
He lumbered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like strawberries. His mom was standing there with a meat tenderizer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a honk.
"Hi Mommy!" Alton replied repeatedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fondue," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra ground pork. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Alton replied later. "Do we have the popcorn ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his mother replied innocently. "It only has to spoon into container for sixty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Alton replied breathlessly. "I'm gonna go to the pantry."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cinnamon toast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pantry 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," Alton responded, as he sat down to his cinnamon toast. "Let's hang lots of purple balloons and cover the rocking chair and the chair with violet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother softly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Heather Sekora. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric paint mixer."
"Shame," Alton responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snigger. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."