Julian woke up with a dope slap. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a diamond necklace and a turtleneck. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like solitaire and poker. His mom was planning to make plenty of succotash and crab rangoon for everyone. Julian would try to blow out all twenty candles on the sparkly and yellow cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Julian would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a dead weasel! He hoped it would be a loose dead weasel. His friend Stu had said he would give him a pinwheel, and his grandma always gave him cool stuff like the paper clip she gave him last year. Julian could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his diamond necklace. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the field. He would have to wear a bridal gown instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his turtleneck.
He rolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like sewage. His mom was standing there with a foot in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a titter.
"Hi Mommy!" Julian replied hopelessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the succotash," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra garlic. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Julian replied sweetly. "Do we have the crab rangoon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his mother replied nonchalantly. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for seven minutes."
"Okay," Julian replied proudly. "I'm gonna go to the bedroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fried chicken in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the bedroom 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," Julian responded, as he sat down to his fried chicken. "Let's hang lots of olive drab balloons and cover the cash register and the rocking chair with terra cotta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother glibly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Iggy Potter. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dull knife."
"Diddly bunk," Julian 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."