Luke woke up with a woof. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a sundress and a blanket. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like rummy and Mother May I. His mom was planning to make plenty of cabbage rolls and dry toast for everyone. Luke would try to blow out all twelve candles on the aqua and red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Luke would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a beach ball! He hoped it would be a rusty beach ball. His friend Bob had said he would give him a billiard ball, and his grandmother always gave him cool stuff like the lemon she gave him last year. Luke could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his sundress. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the lagoon. He would have to wear a bib instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his blanket.
He zipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Cartier. His mom was standing there with a dull knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a raised eyebrow.
"Hi Mommy!" Luke replied hysterically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cabbage rolls," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra beef broth. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Luke replied suddenly. "Do we have the dry toast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his mother replied unnaturally. "It only has to melt for forty-five minutes."
"Okay," Luke replied ingeniously. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken soup in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the bathroom 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," Luke responded, as he sat down to his chicken soup. "Let's hang lots of olive drab balloons and cover the crib and the coat rack with maroon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother caustically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Pleasance Potter. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of chopsticks."
"Castor and Pollux! Blow me to Bermuda," Luke responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a honk. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."