Tracy woke up with a snicker. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of Reeboks and a beard. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like rummy and red light green light. His mom was planning to make plenty of pretzels and fish and chips for everyone. Tracy would try to blow out all twenty-one candles on the polka dotted and sea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Tracy would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bowling ball! He hoped it would be a golden bowling ball. His friend Lucifer had said he would give him a twig, and his aunt always gave him cool stuff like the paperweight she gave him last year. Tracy could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of Reeboks. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the range. He would have to wear a tank top instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his beard.
He clambered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a locker room. His mom was standing there with a fork in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a jeer.
"Hi Mommy!" Tracy replied irritably. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pretzels," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra fava beans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Tracy replied lazily. "Do we have the fish and chips ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his mother replied ferociously. "It only has to grill for ten minutes."
"Okay," Tracy replied nervously. "I'm gonna go to the closet."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some duck a l'orange in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the closet 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," Tracy responded, as he sat down to his duck a l'orange. "Let's hang lots of salmon balloons and cover the mattress and the sofa with olive drab crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother despondently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Holly Reynolds. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a wooden spoon."
"Fribblenootums," Tracy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a guffaw. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."