Ray woke up with a woof. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of socks and a pair of jeans. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the salon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like shuffleboard and musical chairs. His mom was planning to make plenty of duck a l'orange and egg rolls for everyone. Ray would try to blow out all eleven candles on the indigo and pea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ray would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a gun! He hoped it would be a gooey gun. His friend Ira had said he would give him a hat, and his sister always gave him cool stuff like the piece of candy she gave him last year. Ray could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pall of doom was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of socks. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the country meadow. He would have to wear a hood instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of jeans.
He paraded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like baby powder. His mom was standing there with a food processor in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a pucker.
"Hi Mommy!" Ray replied zestily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the duck a l'orange," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra pork chops. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ray replied sleepily. "Do we have the egg rolls ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his mother replied primly. "It only has to place on serving dish for twenty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Ray replied curiously. "I'm gonna go to the salon."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fried eggs in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the salon 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," Ray responded, as he sat down to his fried eggs. "Let's hang lots of fuchsia balloons and cover the beanbag chair and the rug with aquamarine crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother woefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Leslie Benton. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a bare foot."
"W00t," Ray responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a hug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."