Zachary woke up with a sneer. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a bathrobe and a kilt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the lounge was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Monopoly and charades. His mom was planning to make plenty of duck a l'orange and dirty rice for everyone. Zachary would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the olive drab and striped cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Zachary would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cork! He hoped it would be a gruesome cork. His friend Manny had said he would give him a bowling ball, and his mother-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the bag of popcorn she gave him last year. Zachary could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hailstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his bathrobe. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the gulch. He would have to wear a pair of cowboy boots instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his kilt.
He galloped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like smoked fish. His mom was standing there with a dish cloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a clenched fist.
"Hi Mommy!" Zachary replied timidly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the duck a l'orange," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh basil. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Zachary replied stealthily. "Do we have the dirty rice ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his mother replied automatically. "It only has to spoon into container for eighty-one minutes."
"Okay," Zachary replied strictly. "I'm gonna go to the lounge."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some mushroom quiche in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the lounge 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," Zachary responded, as he sat down to his mushroom quiche. "Let's hang lots of brilliant orange balloons and cover the piano and the billiard table with emerald green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother anxiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Libby Brainard. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a food processor."
"Zowie," Zachary responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a backward glance. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."