Vince woke up with a power fist. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a leotard and a pair of Reeboks. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like jacks and trivia. His mom was planning to make plenty of French fries and blueberry pie for everyone. Vince would try to blow out all eight candles on the black and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Vince would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a toothbrush! He hoped it would be an amazing toothbrush. His friend Rutherford had said he would give him a notepad, and his mother always gave him cool stuff like the cookbook she gave him last year. Vince could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his leotard. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the lakeside. He would have to wear a derby instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of Reeboks.
He trotted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a stable. His mom was standing there with a dish cloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a belly laugh.
"Hi Mommy!" Vince replied lovingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the French fries," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra green bell peppers. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Vince replied madly. "Do we have the blueberry pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his mother replied hopefully. "It only has to poach lightly for seventy-nine minutes."
"Okay," Vince replied numbly. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cabbage in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the living room 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," Vince responded, as he sat down to his cabbage. "Let's hang lots of black balloons and cover the cushion and the footstool with peach crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother wearily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Millie Geiger. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a chopstick."
"Feh," Vince responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sigh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."