Newt woke up with a frown. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of moon boots and a watch. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the ballroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like backgammon and tag. His mom was planning to make plenty of dirty rice and pumpkin pie for everyone. Newt would try to blow out all three candles on the fuchsia and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Newt would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an egg shell! He hoped it would be a decrepit egg shell. His friend Manfred had said he would give him a crystal ball, and his girlfriend always gave him cool stuff like the cotton ball she gave him last year. Newt 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 pair of moon boots. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the moonscape. He would have to wear a loincloth instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his watch.
He struggled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Avon. His mom was standing there with a potato peeler in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a grimace.
"Hi Mommy!" Newt replied miserably. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the dirty rice," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra chopped green pepper. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Newt replied warmly. "Do we have the pumpkin pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his mother replied energetically. "It only has to press for fifty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Newt replied roughly. "I'm gonna go to the ballroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cherries jubilee in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the ballroom 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," Newt responded, as he sat down to his cherries jubilee. "Let's hang lots of olive green balloons and cover the hope chest and the filing cabinet with yellow crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother victoriously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Hildegarde Milenski. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Durn it," Newt responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a stiff upper lip. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."