Morton woke up with a yawn. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a stovepipe hat and a sweatshirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the attic was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited sixteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like rummy and backgammon. His dad was planning to make plenty of fried okra and chicken chow mein for everyone. Morton would try to blow out all eight candles on the camouflage and turquoise cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Morton would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an abacus! He hoped it would be an amazing abacus. His friend Meredith had said she would give him a cookie, and his sister always gave him cool stuff like the banana she gave him last year. Morton could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his stovepipe hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the badlands area. He would have to wear a winter coat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his sweatshirt.
He careened downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a swamp. His dad was standing there with a piece of cheesecloth in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a hug.
"Hi Daddy!" Morton replied sharply. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fried okra," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra mushrooms. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Morton replied blindly. "Do we have the chicken chow mein ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his father replied ingeniously. "It only has to whirl for fifty-one minutes."
"Okay," Morton replied grandly. "I'm gonna go to the attic."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some crumb cake in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the attic first?" he begged.
"It looks just like it always does," his father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Morton responded, as he sat down to his crumb cake. "Let's hang lots of terra cotta balloons and cover the pool table and the settee with silver crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father properly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Betty Salinger. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Ow," Morton responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a hug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."