Helmut woke up with a raspberry. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of moccasins and a stovepipe hat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the tool shed was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like leapfrog and Russian roulette. His mom was planning to make plenty of Hamburger Helper and omelet for everyone. Helmut would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the chocolate brown and carrot-orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Helmut would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a can of soup! He hoped it would be a frilly can of soup. His friend Lucas had said he would give him a camera, and his grandfather always gave him cool stuff like the coloring book she gave him last year. Helmut could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an earthquake was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of moccasins. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the swamp. He would have to wear a pair of contact lenses instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his stovepipe hat.
He bounded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like ammonia. His mom was standing there with a wooden spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a smirk.
"Hi Mommy!" Helmut replied frenetically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Hamburger Helper," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra green chiles. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Helmut replied busily. "Do we have the omelet ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his mother replied cautiously. "It only has to fry for thirty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Helmut replied grudgingly. "I'm gonna go to the tool shed."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken gumbo in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the tool shed 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," Helmut responded, as he sat down to his chicken gumbo. "Let's hang lots of beige balloons and cover the canopy bed and the mattress with indigo crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother sweetly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Konstanze Hamilton. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a piece of cheesecloth."
"Yoohoo," Helmut responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a flush. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."