Christian woke up with a curtsey. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a garland and a shirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the salon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like Mother May I and shuffleboard. His mom was planning to make plenty of macaroni and cheese and pecan pie for everyone. Christian would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the blue and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Christian would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a picture! He hoped it would be an imported picture. His friend Gabriel had said he would give him a pair of pliers, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the cookbook she gave him last year. Christian could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his garland. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the savanna. He would have to wear a kimono instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his shirt.
He sauntered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Listerine. His mom was standing there with an electric paint mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a smile.
"Hi Mommy!" Christian replied crossly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the macaroni and cheese," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cream of tomato soup. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Christian replied patiently. "Do we have the pecan pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his mother replied repeatedly. "It only has to freeze for thirty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Christian replied lightly. "I'm gonna go to the salon."
"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 salon 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," Christian responded, as he sat down to his waffles. "Let's hang lots of polka dotted balloons and cover the ironing board and the settee with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother violently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Peg Sims. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a turkey baster."
"Ka-ching," Christian responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a guffaw. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."