Zed woke up with a face palm. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a bandana and a T-shirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like badminton and Monopoly. His mom was planning to make plenty of mashed potatoes and spaghetti for everyone. Zed would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the peach and orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Zed would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a handkerchief! He hoped it would be a delicate handkerchief. His friend Kim had said he would give him a playing card, and his mother-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the hacksaw she gave him last year. Zed could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his bandana. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the circus tent. He would have to wear a diamond bracelet instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his T-shirt.
He waddled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like chocolate cake. His mom was standing there with a melon baller in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a cackle.
"Hi Mommy!" Zed replied haughtily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mashed potatoes," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra basil. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Zed replied resignedly. "Do we have the spaghetti ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his mother replied dreamily. "It only has to heat in microwave for seventy-seven minutes."
"Okay," Zed replied confidently. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lamb curry in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the bathroom 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," Zed responded, as he sat down to his lamb curry. "Let's hang lots of lavender balloons and cover the wine rack and the piano with sparkly crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother coolly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Alice Coleman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cheesecloth."
"The joke's on me," Zed responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with an air kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."