Shane woke up with a gurgle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in an overcoat and a T-shirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the atrium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like leapfrog and trivia. His mom was planning to make plenty of beans and bread and butter for everyone. Shane would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the indigo and blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Shane would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a yardstick! He hoped it would be a cotton yardstick. His friend Hank had said he would give him a joint, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the diagram she gave him last year. Shane could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his overcoat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the plain. He would have to wear a badge instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his T-shirt.
He jumped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fried chicken. His mom was standing there with a dull knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a backward glance.
"Hi Mommy!" Shane replied uneasily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the beans," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra rice noodles. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Shane replied reluctantly. "Do we have the bread and butter ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his mother replied deliberately. "It only has to smoke for fifty-one minutes."
"Okay," Shane replied sweetly. "I'm gonna go to the atrium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some falafel in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the atrium 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," Shane responded, as he sat down to his falafel. "Let's hang lots of hot pink balloons and cover the bunk bed and the card table with jet black crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother shyly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Sierra Meyer. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cookie cutter."
"Touché," Shane responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a belly laugh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."