Shepard woke up with a coo. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a veil and a dog collar. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the master bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirty of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like bridge and tag. His mom was planning to make plenty of country glazed ham and dry toast for everyone. Shepard would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the emerald green and scarlet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Shepard would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hot potato! He hoped it would be a bizarre hot potato. His friend Humphrey had said he would give him a pink flamingo, and his grandma always gave him cool stuff like the cowbell she gave him last year. Shepard could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his veil. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the hillside. He would have to wear a surgical mask instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his dog collar.
He flew downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rotten eggs. His mom was standing there with a blender in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with an evil eye.
"Hi Mommy!" Shepard replied curiously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the country glazed ham," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra raspberries. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Shepard replied sagely. "Do we have the dry toast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his mother replied accidentally. "It only has to press for thirty-six minutes."
"Okay," Shepard replied slowly. "I'm gonna go to the master bedroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cotton candy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the master bedroom 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," Shepard responded, as he sat down to his cotton candy. "Let's hang lots of amber balloons and cover the workbench and the washstand with aqua crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother anxiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Paige Freeman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a fork."
"Alas," Shepard responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."