Ace woke up with a snarl. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a tailcoat and an evening gown. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the hall was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like duck duck goose and charades. His mom was planning to make plenty of egg salad sandwich and clam chowder for everyone. Ace would try to blow out all twenty candles on the aquamarine and scarlet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ace would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a potato! He hoped it would be a jagged potato. His friend Broderick had said he would give him a hair brush, and his sister-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the lollipop she gave him last year. Ace could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a driving rain was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his tailcoat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the field. He would have to wear a bolo tie instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his evening gown.
He reeled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like peanut butter. His mom was standing there with a spatula in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a cheer.
"Hi Mommy!" Ace replied delicately. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg salad sandwich," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra sesame seeds. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ace replied gracefully. "Do we have the clam chowder ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," his mother replied wryly. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for seventy minutes."
"Okay," Ace replied menacingly. "I'm gonna go to the hall."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some beans in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the hall 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 beans. "Let's hang lots of beige balloons and cover the nightstand and the water bed with forest green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother woodenly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Kimberly Overland. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dull knife."
"Yikes," Ace responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a giggle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."