Dennis woke up with a wrinkled nose. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a gladiator helmet and a hood. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the conservatory was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like tennis and doctor. His mom was planning to make plenty of pancakes and pancakes for everyone. Dennis would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the ivory and hot pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Dennis would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bag of ice! He hoped it would be an ordinary bag of ice. His friend Kent had said he would give him an elephant tusk, and his grandpa always gave him cool stuff like the bottle she gave him last year. Dennis could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dense fog was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his gladiator helmet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the forest. He would have to wear a helmet instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his hood.
He whirled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like ginger. His mom was standing there with a wooden spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with an evil eye.
"Hi Mommy!" Dennis replied trustingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pancakes," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra shortening. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Dennis replied frenetically. "Do we have the pancakes ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," his mother replied tenderly. "It only has to grill for thirty-three minutes."
"Okay," Dennis replied uselessly. "I'm gonna go to the conservatory."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some spaghetti in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the conservatory 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," Dennis responded, as he sat down to his spaghetti. "Let's hang lots of sparkly balloons and cover the desk and the toilet with forest green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother dubiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Marla Romer. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spatula."
"Alrighty," Dennis responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a coo. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."