Todd woke up with a curtsey. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a ski mask and a sarong. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the boiler room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like battleship and Simon Says. His mom was planning to make plenty of cabbage rolls and spaghetti for everyone. Todd would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the mauve and amber cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Todd would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a spoon! He hoped it would be a clean spoon. His friend Eubie had said he would give him a snail, and his friend always gave him cool stuff like the piece of candy she gave him last year. Todd could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his ski mask. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountaintop. He would have to wear a bicycle helmet instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his sarong.
He rushed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a mountain meadow. His mom was standing there with a ladle in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a raised eyebrow.
"Hi Mommy!" Todd replied steadily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cabbage rolls," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra jalapeños. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Todd replied automatically. "Do we have the spaghetti ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his mother replied blankly. "It only has to fry for forty-six minutes."
"Okay," Todd replied recklessly. "I'm gonna go to the boiler room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cotton candy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boiler room 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," Todd responded, as he sat down to his cotton candy. "Let's hang lots of white balloons and cover the couch and the stairway with olive green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother deftly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Sharice Yager. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an egg cutter."
"Eeshk," Todd responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a squint. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."