Woody woke up with a pout. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a tank top and a bolo tie. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the cage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirty of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like hopscotch and Monopoly. His mom was planning to make plenty of hors d'oeuvre and borscht for everyone. Woody would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the tan and sparkly cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Woody would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cell phone! He hoped it would be an amazing cell phone. His friend Elijah had said he would give him a flash drive, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the package she gave him last year. Woody could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sandstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his tank top. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the canyon. He would have to wear a Speedo instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bolo tie.
He slunk downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like mildew. His mom was standing there with a blender in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a coo.
"Hi Mommy!" Woody replied angrily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hors d'oeuvre," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra mashed potatoes. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Woody replied jokingly. "Do we have the borscht ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his mother replied clumsily. "It only has to arrange for forty-three minutes."
"Okay," Woody replied energetically. "I'm gonna go to the cage."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fish and chips in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the cage 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," Woody responded, as he sat down to his fish and chips. "Let's hang lots of camouflage balloons and cover the ping-pong table and the dresser with teal crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother surreptitiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Nadine Jacobs. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a ladle."
"What the devil," Woody responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a wag of the finger. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."