Ace woke up with a gurgle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a name tag and a pair of combat boots. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the boudoir was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like rummy and checkers. His mom was planning to make plenty of Swiss cheese and hash for everyone. Ace would try to blow out all eight candles on the black and sparkly cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ace would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bagpipe! He hoped it would be a flexible bagpipe. His friend Stephen had said he would give him a cotton ball, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the coin she gave him last year. Ace 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 name tag. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the swamp. He would have to wear a pair of Oxfords instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of combat boots.
He jogged downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like roses. His mom was standing there with a blender in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a raised eyebrow.
"Hi Mommy!" Ace replied testily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Swiss cheese," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra Canadian bacon. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ace replied fervently. "Do we have the hash ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," his mother replied coldly. "It only has to place on serving dish for sixty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Ace replied thoughtfully. "I'm gonna go to the boudoir."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some shrimp in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boudoir 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," Ace responded, as he sat down to his shrimp. "Let's hang lots of black balloons and cover the coat rack and the end table with salmon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother ingeniously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Charlotte Hunter. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pastry blender."
"Bleep," Ace responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a pucker. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."