Conner woke up with a backward glance. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a thong and a pair of sweatpants. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the pool room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like leapfrog and Monopoly. His mom was planning to make plenty of fish and chips and spaghetti for everyone. Conner would try to blow out all twelve candles on the lime-green and jet black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Conner would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a flash drive! He hoped it would be a clean flash drive. His friend Rumpelstiltskin had said he would give him a smart phone, and his mom always gave him cool stuff like the paper bag she gave him last year. Conner could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a gale was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his thong. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the island. He would have to wear a helmet instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of sweatpants.
He bounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like an ashtray. His mom was standing there with a melon baller in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a raspberry.
"Hi Mommy!" Conner replied carelessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fish and chips," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra margarine. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Conner replied woefully. "Do we have the spaghetti ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his mother replied menacingly. "It only has to bake at 450 degrees F for seven minutes."
"Okay," Conner replied lickety-split. "I'm gonna go to the pool room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cookies in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pool room 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," Conner responded, as he sat down to his cookies. "Let's hang lots of burgundy balloons and cover the bar stool and the footstool with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother smoothly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Madelyn John. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat thermometer."
"Wild," Conner responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a death glare. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."