Christian woke up with a bound. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of Bermuda shorts and a big red rose. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the family room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like checkers and cribbage. His mom was planning to make plenty of mashed potatoes and fried eggs for everyone. Christian would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the lime-green and salmon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Christian would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a lemon! He hoped it would be a bulky lemon. His friend Harvey had said he would give him a deck of cards, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the flyswatter she gave him last year. Christian could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drizzle was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of Bermuda shorts. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountainside. He would have to wear a pair of glasses instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his big red rose.
He slumped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a locker room. His mom was standing there with an electric mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a snarl.
"Hi Mommy!" Christian replied offhandedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mashed potatoes," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh mushrooms. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Christian replied patiently. "Do we have the fried eggs ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his mother replied daringly. "It only has to bake at 450 degrees F for sixty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Christian replied ingeniously. "I'm gonna go to the family room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lime sherbet in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the family room 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," Christian responded, as he sat down to his lime sherbet. "Let's hang lots of grey balloons and cover the china hutch and the fainting couch with beige crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother obediently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Savannah Perkins. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato masher."
"Ho hum," Christian responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a jeer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."