Abe woke up with a finger gun. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a gold medal and a heavy layer of makeup. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the boudoir was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like dodge ball and baseball. His mom was planning to make plenty of macaroni and cheese and pretzels for everyone. Abe would try to blow out all twenty-three candles on the red and silver cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Abe would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a clam! He hoped it would be a puzzling clam. His friend Trent had said he would give him a candy cane, and his fiancée always gave him cool stuff like the corncob she gave him last year. Abe 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 gold medal. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the badlands area. He would have to wear a suit instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his heavy layer of makeup.
He inched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like moldy leftovers. His mom was standing there with a food processor in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a growl.
"Hi Mommy!" Abe replied repeatedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the macaroni and cheese," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra kielbasa. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Abe replied grudgingly. "Do we have the pretzels ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his mother replied surreptitiously. "It only has to heat for fourteen minutes."
"Okay," Abe replied gently. "I'm gonna go to the boudoir."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cabbage rolls in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boudoir 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," Abe responded, as he sat down to his cabbage rolls. "Let's hang lots of blue balloons and cover the ironing board and the casket with indigo crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother timidly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Candi Weiss. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a slotted spoon."
"Goodness me," Abe responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a glare. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."