Carlton woke up with a blush. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of safety glasses and a badge. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the rec room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited one of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like bridge and Scrabble. His mom was planning to make plenty of mulligan stew and chicken chow mein for everyone. Carlton would try to blow out all twenty-seven candles on the white and turquoise cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Carlton would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a teapot! He hoped it would be a filthy teapot. His friend Plato had said he would give him an oriental vase, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the brush she gave him last year. Carlton could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a gale was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of safety glasses. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the swamp. He would have to wear a jacket instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his badge.
He hobbled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like natural gas. His mom was standing there with a cookie cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a sneeze.
"Hi Mommy!" Carlton replied accidentally. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mulligan stew," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra parmesan cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Carlton replied happily. "Do we have the chicken chow mein ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his mother replied nonchalantly. "It only has to marinate for eighty minutes."
"Okay," Carlton replied slyly. "I'm gonna go to the rec room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tofu in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the rec 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," Carlton responded, as he sat down to his tofu. "Let's hang lots of teal balloons and cover the pool table and the catbird seat with pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother lickety-split. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Lynn Henderson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"Cock-a-doodle-doo," Carlton responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a stiff upper lip. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."