Arnold woke up with a face palm. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a cummerbund and a G-string. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like red rover and dodge ball. His mom was planning to make plenty of strawberry shortcake and ramen noodles for everyone. Arnold would try to blow out all five candles on the tan and jade cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Arnold would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pigeon! He hoped it would be a nifty pigeon. His friend Dax had said he would give him a joint, and his wife always gave him cool stuff like the watering can she gave him last year. Arnold 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 cummerbund. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the treetop. He would have to wear a diamond bracelet instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his G-string.
He tore downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like plastic. His mom was standing there with a cheesecloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a raised eyebrow.
"Hi Mommy!" Arnold replied breathlessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the strawberry shortcake," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra soy sauce. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Arnold replied defiantly. "Do we have the ramen noodles ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his mother replied lazily. "It only has to deep fry for four minutes."
"Okay," Arnold replied later. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pot roast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the living 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," Arnold responded, as he sat down to his pot roast. "Let's hang lots of lime-green balloons and cover the cash register and the washing machine with sparkly crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother oddly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Jennessa Dixon. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"Yowee," Arnold responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a yawn. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."