Milo woke up with a sigh. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a hat and a corsage. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the front porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve 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 egg drop soup and mulligan stew for everyone. Milo would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the fuchsia and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Milo would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a yardstick! He hoped it would be an ancient yardstick. His friend Shane had said he would give him an artificial flower, and his grandfather always gave him cool stuff like the cotton ball she gave him last year. Milo could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an earthquake was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountainside. He would have to wear a fedora instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his corsage.
He tumbled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like gingersnaps. His mom was standing there with an electric mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a stiff upper lip.
"Hi Mommy!" Milo replied warily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg drop soup," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra bananas. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Milo replied impatiently. "Do we have the mulligan stew ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his mother replied lovingly. "It only has to poach lightly for thirty-six minutes."
"Okay," Milo replied unexpectedly. "I'm gonna go to the front porch."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some doughnuts in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the front porch 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," Milo responded, as he sat down to his doughnuts. "Let's hang lots of emerald green balloons and cover the nightstand and the sofa with amber crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother deliberately. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Antoinette Galloza. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a mixing spoon."
"Neato," Milo responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a smirk. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."