Macon woke up with a pound of the chest. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a wizard's hat and a beard. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the front porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like dominos and Candy Land. His mom was planning to make plenty of Cheerios and burritos for everyone. Macon would try to blow out all fifteen candles on the terra cotta and crimson cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Macon would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a dart! He hoped it would be a dusty dart. His friend Hugo had said he would give him a backpack, and his mother always gave him cool stuff like the grease gun she gave him last year. Macon could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his wizard's hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the river. He would have to wear a dress instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his beard.
He crawled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like freshly cut grass. His mom was standing there with a cookie cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a snicker.
"Hi Mommy!" Macon replied unabashedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Cheerios," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra shrimp. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Macon replied ignobly. "Do we have the burritos ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his mother replied crazily. "It only has to microwave for thirty-five minutes."
"Okay," Macon replied pitifully. "I'm gonna go to the front porch."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some brownies in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the front porch 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," Macon responded, as he sat down to his brownies. "Let's hang lots of black balloons and cover the TV and the bath mat with forest green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother breathlessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Violet Hudson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a chopstick."
"Phooey," Macon 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."