Morgan woke up with a grunt. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a sundress and a pair of dungarees. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the conservatory was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-one of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like trivia and tag. His dad was planning to make plenty of mushroom quiche and country glazed ham for everyone. Morgan would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the brown and purple cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Morgan would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a firecracker! He hoped it would be a greasy firecracker. His friend Hayley had said she would give him a bicycle, and his grandfather always gave him cool stuff like the pom-pom she gave him last year. Morgan could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a tornado 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 mountaintop. He would have to wear a pair of culottes instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of dungarees.
He tramped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cinnamon. His dad was standing there with a candy thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a yawn.
"Hi Daddy!" Morgan replied lazily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mushroom quiche," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sourdough. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Morgan replied woefully. "Do we have the country glazed ham ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his father replied temperamentally. "It only has to heat for forty minutes."
"Okay," Morgan replied resignedly. "I'm gonna go to the conservatory."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chocolate-covered ants in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the conservatory first?" he begged.
"It looks just like it always does," his father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Morgan responded, as he sat down to his chocolate-covered ants. "Let's hang lots of grey balloons and cover the cupboard and the bathtub with forest green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father dreamily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, So-Yeng Daniels. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spatula."
"Par bleu," Morgan responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a twitch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."