Fabien woke up with a chuckle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a dog collar and a cloak. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the ballroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like Mother May I and old maid. His mom was planning to make plenty of mulligan stew and mushroom quiche for everyone. Fabien would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the lime-green and orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Fabien would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a roll of toilet paper! He hoped it would be a modern roll of toilet paper. His friend Jamie had said he would give him a file folder, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the backpack she gave him last year. Fabien could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his dog collar. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the savanna. He would have to wear a set of camo fatigues instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his cloak.
He inched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like bleach. His mom was standing there with a paring knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a grunt.
"Hi Mommy!" Fabien replied tearfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mulligan stew," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra kidney beans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Fabien replied innocently. "Do we have the mushroom quiche ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his mother replied menacingly. "It only has to broil for thirty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Fabien replied frenetically. "I'm gonna go to the ballroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some brownies in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the ballroom 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," Fabien responded, as he sat down to his brownies. "Let's hang lots of black balloons and cover the pedestal and the canopy bed with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother hopelessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Marissa Kraft. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a slotted spoon."
"Yo ho ho," Fabien responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a shrug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."