Kirby woke up with a sigh. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in an award medal and a bikini. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the outhouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like battleship and dodge ball. His mom was planning to make plenty of roast beef and ravioli for everyone. Kirby would try to blow out all eleven candles on the jet black and black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kirby would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a paintbrush! He hoped it would be a damp paintbrush. His friend Mac had said he would give him a deck of cards, and his grandfather always gave him cool stuff like the piano she gave him last year. Kirby could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his award medal. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the pond. He would have to wear a big red rose instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bikini.
He swaggered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Givenchy. His mom was standing there with a food processor in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a shrug.
"Hi Mommy!" Kirby replied steadily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast beef," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra Cheerios. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kirby replied warily. "Do we have the ravioli ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his mother replied strictly. "It only has to melt for forty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Kirby replied repeatedly. "I'm gonna go to the outhouse."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some sweet potatoes in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the outhouse 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," Kirby responded, as he sat down to his sweet potatoes. "Let's hang lots of striped balloons and cover the pool table and the hamper with striped crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother fervently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Crystal Pacheco. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"Sure," Kirby responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a chortle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."