Frank woke up with a grin. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a cocktail dress and a toupee. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the lounge was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like leapfrog and Scrabble. His mom was planning to make plenty of fish and chips and fondue for everyone. Frank would try to blow out all twenty candles on the khaki and amber cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Frank would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bottle of painkillers! He hoped it would be a charming bottle of painkillers. His friend Geoffrey had said he would give him a barbell, and his grandpa always gave him cool stuff like the box of candy she gave him last year. Frank could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his cocktail dress. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the briar patch. He would have to wear a pair of Reeboks instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his toupee.
He jumped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like sewage. His mom was standing there with an oven mitt in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a kiss.
"Hi Mommy!" Frank replied ingeniously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fish and chips," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra kiwis. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Frank replied deftly. "Do we have the fondue ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his mother replied vigorously. "It only has to sear outside for eighty-three minutes."
"Okay," Frank replied noisily. "I'm gonna go to the lounge."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tacos in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the lounge 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," Frank responded, as he sat down to his tacos. "Let's hang lots of brilliant orange balloons and cover the ping-pong table and the carpet with tan crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother sheepishly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Merna Fulton. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dull knife."
"Zowie," Frank responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a blush. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."