Joel woke up with a growl. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a sweatshirt and a blanket. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like red rover and Rummy. His mom was planning to make plenty of beef bouillon and blueberry pie for everyone. Joel would try to blow out all six candles on the lime-green and green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Joel would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a thumb drive! He hoped it would be a stolen thumb drive. His friend Paco had said he would give him a box of candy, and his grandpa always gave him cool stuff like the coloring book she gave him last year. Joel could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his sweatshirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the river. He would have to wear a pair of cycling shorts instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his blanket.
He inched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like lavender. His mom was standing there with a cheesecloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a coo.
"Hi Mommy!" Joel replied dubiously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the beef bouillon," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra half and half. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Joel replied solemnly. "Do we have the blueberry pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his mother replied brashly. "It only has to steam for fifty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Joel replied confidently. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pot roast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the linen closet 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," Joel responded, as he sat down to his pot roast. "Let's hang lots of blue balloons and cover the floor and the chair with red crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother neatly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Petunia Douglas. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a wooden spoon."
"Holy cow," Joel responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a power fist. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."