Archie woke up with a hug. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a sweatshirt and a jacket. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the doghouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like treasure hunt and jacks. His mom was planning to make plenty of biscuits and gravy and doughnuts for everyone. Archie would try to blow out all nine candles on the brown and brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Archie would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a sponge! He hoped it would be a cheap sponge. His friend Horst had said he would give him a snail, and his mentor always gave him cool stuff like the carrot she gave him last year. Archie could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a driving rain was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his sweatshirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the trail. He would have to wear an Armani suit instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his jacket.
He zoomed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like creosote. His mom was standing there with a bare foot in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a pout.
"Hi Mommy!" Archie replied merrily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the biscuits and gravy," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra pistachios. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Archie replied blindly. "Do we have the doughnuts ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," his mother replied recklessly. "It only has to smoke for sixty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Archie replied coldly. "I'm gonna go to the doghouse."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Cheerios in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the doghouse 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," Archie responded, as he sat down to his Cheerios. "Let's hang lots of aqua balloons and cover the display case and the windowsill with salmon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother nonchalantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Oksana Kim. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"Oh," Archie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a finger gun. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."