Jay woke up with a grin. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a hat and a big red rose. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the boiler room 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 baseball and ring around the rosie. His mom was planning to make plenty of hot dogs and fried eggs for everyone. Jay would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the jet black and black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jay would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a coat hanger! He hoped it would be a curved coat hanger. His friend Norm had said he would give him a needle and thread, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the coat hanger she gave him last year. Jay 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 hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the veld. He would have to wear a gladiator helmet instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his big red rose.
He sallied forth downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a stagnant pond. His mom was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a squint.
"Hi Mommy!" Jay replied truculently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hot dogs," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra frankfurters. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jay replied timidly. "Do we have the fried eggs ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his mother replied demurely. "It only has to deep fry for forty-six minutes."
"Okay," Jay replied irritably. "I'm gonna go to the boiler room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Hamburger Helper in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boiler 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," Jay responded, as he sat down to his Hamburger Helper. "Let's hang lots of jet black balloons and cover the TV and the wooden crate with lavender crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother sympathetically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Cynthia Mitchell. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric mixer."
"Maybe," Jay responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a bow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."