Louie 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 babushka and a set of football pads. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like follow the leader and crazy eights. His mom was planning to make plenty of ham and fried okra for everyone. Louie would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the orange and green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Louie would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an iPad! He hoped it would be a cotton iPad. His friend Abel had said he would give him a can of beans, and his mom always gave him cool stuff like the pair of pliers she gave him last year. Louie could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a windstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his babushka. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountain. He would have to wear a body shirt instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his set of football pads.
He sallied forth downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Pla-Doh. His mom was standing there with a foot in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a glare.
"Hi Mommy!" Louie replied fondly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ham," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra chopped pecans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Louie replied sagely. "Do we have the fried okra ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his mother replied vigorously. "It only has to boil for sixty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Louie replied swiftly. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chocolate-covered ants in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the linen closet 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," Louie responded, as he sat down to his chocolate-covered ants. "Let's hang lots of beige balloons and cover the dishwasher and the credenza with fuchsia crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother cautiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Azalea Carson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a turkey baster."
"Ack," Louie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sigh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."