Elijah woke up with a chortle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a bomber jacket and a bridal gown. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the family room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eleven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like solitaire and rummy. His mom was planning to make plenty of chicken chow mein and pie a la mode for everyone. Elijah would try to blow out all six candles on the sea green and amber cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Elijah would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a rubber stamp! He hoped it would be a mechanical rubber stamp. His friend Rick had said he would give him a clam, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the hubcap she gave him last year. Elijah could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his bomber jacket. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the dumpster. He would have to wear a big grin instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bridal gown.
He proceeded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rotten eggs. His mom was standing there with a meat thermometer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a shrug.
"Hi Mommy!" Elijah replied jokingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken chow mein," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra celery seed. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Elijah replied blissfully. "Do we have the pie a la mode ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his mother replied strictly. "It only has to shake for seventeen minutes."
"Okay," Elijah replied dreamily. "I'm gonna go to the family room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cabbage rolls in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the family 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," Elijah responded, as he sat down to his cabbage rolls. "Let's hang lots of khaki balloons and cover the bath mat and the coffee table with magenta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother carefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Laci Barber. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat thermometer."
"Okay," Elijah responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a bow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."