Lucian woke up with a flutter. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a G-string and a belt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like jacks and duck duck goose. His mom was planning to make plenty of lime sherbet and falafel for everyone. Lucian would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the camouflage and terra cotta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lucian would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a radio! He hoped it would be a small radio. His friend Peter had said he would give him a clock, and his sister-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the paper airplane she gave him last year. Lucian could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pelting rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his G-string. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the seashore. He would have to wear a bicycle helmet instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his belt.
He jumped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a mountain meadow. His mom was standing there with a corkscrew in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a twitch.
"Hi Mommy!" Lucian replied viciously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lime sherbet," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra chopped liver. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lucian replied boisterously. "Do we have the falafel ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his mother replied sternly. "It only has to press for thirty-one minutes."
"Okay," Lucian replied accidentally. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cherries jubilee 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," Lucian responded, as he sat down to his cherries jubilee. "Let's hang lots of chocolate brown balloons and cover the chair and the chair with jade crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother awkwardly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Starla Duke. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spatula."
"Yowsers," Lucian 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."