Jughead woke up with a snigger. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a cap and a pair of contact lenses. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the cage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eight of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Parcheesi and Monopoly. His mom was planning to make plenty of bonbons and pretzels for everyone. Jughead would try to blow out all nine candles on the orange and pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jughead would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fire hose! He hoped it would be an autographed fire hose. His friend Jess had said he would give him an orchid, and his friend always gave him cool stuff like the oriental vase she gave him last year. Jughead 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 cap. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the grassy knoll. He would have to wear a pair of bell-bottoms instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of contact lenses.
He paraded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like liver and onions. His mom was standing there with a meat thermometer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a furrowed brow.
"Hi Mommy!" Jughead replied recklessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the bonbons," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra Hershey Bar. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jughead replied ingeniously. "Do we have the pretzels ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his mother replied carelessly. "It only has to freeze for sixty-one minutes."
"Okay," Jughead replied accidentally. "I'm gonna go to the cage."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pie a la mode in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the cage 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," Jughead responded, as he sat down to his pie a la mode. "Let's hang lots of violet balloons and cover the ironing board and the hamper with amber crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother nervously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Valerie Chu. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of tongs."
"Bingo," Jughead responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sniff. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."