Joshua woke up with a wince. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pocket watch and a business suit. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the family room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like solitaire and treasure hunt. His mom was planning to make plenty of hors d'oeuvre and egg salad sandwich for everyone. Joshua would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the pink and emerald green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Joshua would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Kindle! He hoped it would be an ornate Kindle. His friend George had said he would give him a pipe, and his grandmother always gave him cool stuff like the wastebasket she gave him last year. Joshua could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pocket watch. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountaintop. He would have to wear a pair of sweatpants instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his business suit.
He proceeded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like incense. His mom was standing there with a potato masher in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a pound of the chest.
"Hi Mommy!" Joshua replied madly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hors d'oeuvre," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra kale. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Joshua replied truculently. "Do we have the egg salad sandwich ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his mother replied thankfully. "It only has to toast for ten minutes."
"Okay," Joshua replied suavely. "I'm gonna go to the family room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some French fries in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the family 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," Joshua responded, as he sat down to his French fries. "Let's hang lots of silver balloons and cover the bench and the casket with violet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother effortlessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Liz Cadwallader. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a slotted spoon."
"Okay then," Joshua responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a grimace. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."