Smiley woke up with a raspberry. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a loincloth and a bridal gown. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like Scrabble and hopscotch. His mom was planning to make plenty of borscht and waffles for everyone. Smiley would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the emerald green and white cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Smiley would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a candy cane! He hoped it would be a ragged candy cane. His friend Francisco had said he would give him a baseball, and his grandfather always gave him cool stuff like the basket she gave him last year. Smiley could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his loincloth. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the glen. He would have to wear a toga instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bridal gown.
He danced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like barbeque. His mom was standing there with a cheesecloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a snicker.
"Hi Mommy!" Smiley replied nervously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the borscht," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra dill pickles. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Smiley replied frenetically. "Do we have the waffles ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his mother replied grimly. "It only has to steam for seventy-two minutes."
"Okay," Smiley replied gently. "I'm gonna go to the bedroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some waffles in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the bedroom 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," Smiley responded, as he sat down to his waffles. "Let's hang lots of peach balloons and cover the wine rack and the hamper with periwinkle crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother oddly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Joan Selby. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a blender."
"Godspeed," Smiley responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a beam. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."