Ben woke up with a hiccup. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a bowler hat and a G-string. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the atrium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like ring around the rosie and bridge. His mom was planning to make plenty of hash and oatmeal for everyone. Ben would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the periwinkle and lavender cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ben would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a piece of candy! He hoped it would be a shiny piece of candy. His friend Damon had said he would give him a biscuit, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the curling iron she gave him last year. Ben 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 bowler hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the jungle. He would have to wear a cowboy hat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his G-string.
He strode downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cigarettes. His mom was standing there with a potato masher in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a grunt.
"Hi Mommy!" Ben replied unabashedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hash," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cream cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ben replied busily. "Do we have the oatmeal ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his mother replied merrily. "It only has to toast for two minutes."
"Okay," Ben replied thoughtfully. "I'm gonna go to the atrium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some waffles in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the atrium 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," Ben responded, as he sat down to his waffles. "Let's hang lots of orange balloons and cover the dishwasher and the fainting couch with carrot-orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother sharply. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Calista Prentice. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Alright," Ben responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a guffaw. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."