Richard woke up with a guffaw. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a sundress and a bowler hat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the den was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like Candy Land and battleship. His mom was planning to make plenty of lime sherbet and hot dogs for everyone. Richard would try to blow out all six candles on the periwinkle and ivory cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Richard would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a piece of candy! He hoped it would be a huge piece of candy. His friend Bronk had said he would give him a package, and his mother-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the calculator she gave him last year. Richard could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a gale was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his sundress. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the park. He would have to wear a tinfoil hat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bowler hat.
He sneaked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cookies. His mom was standing there with a pastry blender in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a guffaw.
"Hi Mommy!" Richard replied peevishly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lime sherbet," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra mint leaves. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Richard replied hastily. "Do we have the hot dogs ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his mother replied urgently. "It only has to fry for twenty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Richard replied wryly. "I'm gonna go to the den."
"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 den 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," Richard responded, as he sat down to his cabbage. "Let's hang lots of silver balloons and cover the futon and the rug with jade crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother impatiently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Janet Albrandt. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a fork."
"Gadzooks," Richard responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a shiver. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."