Kellen woke up with a crow. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a fig leaf and a belt buckle. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the kitchen was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like doctor and ring around the rosie. His mom was planning to make plenty of mulligan stew and bonbons for everyone. Kellen would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the green and white cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kellen would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a tube of glue! He hoped it would be a peculiar tube of glue. His friend Clifford had said he would give him a pair of scissors, and his dad always gave him cool stuff like the chain she gave him last year. Kellen could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his fig leaf. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the gully. He would have to wear a trench coat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his belt buckle.
He bounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fingernail polish remover. His mom was standing there with an oven mitt in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a backward glance.
"Hi Mommy!" Kellen replied gruffly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mulligan stew," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra dill weed. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kellen replied angrily. "Do we have the bonbons ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his mother replied miserably. "It only has to spoon into container for eighty-five minutes."
"Okay," Kellen replied zestily. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some scrambled eggs in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the kitchen 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," Kellen responded, as he sat down to his scrambled eggs. "Let's hang lots of terra cotta balloons and cover the bench and the china cabinet with tan crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother recklessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Kelley Vintner. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a wooden spoon."
"Of course," Kellen responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a cheer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."