Gilbert woke up with a glare. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of bloomers and a hearing aid. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the garage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eight of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like hearts and dominos. His mom was planning to make plenty of mushroom quiche and lobster for everyone. Gilbert would try to blow out all six candles on the mauve and jet black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Gilbert would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fire hose! He hoped it would be a modern fire hose. His friend Newt had said he would give him a bird cage, and his grandma always gave him cool stuff like the feather she gave him last year. Gilbert could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blizzard was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of bloomers. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the grassland. He would have to wear a maxi skirt instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his hearing aid.
He barrelled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cigarette smoke. His mom was standing there with a turkey baster in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a cringe.
"Hi Mommy!" Gilbert replied diligently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mushroom quiche," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra mashed potatoes. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Gilbert replied haughtily. "Do we have the lobster ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his mother replied energetically. "It only has to fry for eighty-five minutes."
"Okay," Gilbert replied diligently. "I'm gonna go to the garage."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pumpkin pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the garage 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," Gilbert responded, as he sat down to his pumpkin pie. "Let's hang lots of metallic red balloons and cover the file cabinet and the display case with olive green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother valiantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Ashley Schmutzig. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a melon baller."
"Alleluia," Gilbert responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a simper. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."