Bruce woke up with a belly laugh. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of ear muffs and a camisole. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the solarium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eleven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like backgammon and ring around the rosie. His mom was planning to make plenty of mushroom quiche and hors d'oeuvre for everyone. Bruce would try to blow out all twenty candles on the brown and jade cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Bruce would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cream puff! He hoped it would be a nifty cream puff. His friend Lucas had said he would give him an ironing board, and his sister always gave him cool stuff like the cell phone she gave him last year. Bruce could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of ear muffs. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the pasture. He would have to wear a hat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his camisole.
He crawled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fried chicken. His mom was standing there with a pastry blender in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a caress.
"Hi Mommy!" Bruce replied tenderly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mushroom quiche," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra white wine. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Bruce replied merrily. "Do we have the hors d'oeuvre ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his mother replied dolefully. "It only has to blanch for fifteen minutes."
"Okay," Bruce replied sleepily. "I'm gonna go to the solarium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lamb curry in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the solarium 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," Bruce responded, as he sat down to his lamb curry. "Let's hang lots of carrot-orange balloons and cover the wardrobe and the card table with ivory crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother happily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Anna Bobble. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a piece of cheesecloth."
"Really," Bruce responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with an air kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."