Rip woke up with a frown. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a beanie and a pair of shorts. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the garage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like Scrabble and billiards. His mom was planning to make plenty of oatmeal and borscht for everyone. Rip would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the terra cotta and khaki cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Rip would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an air horn! He hoped it would be a gross air horn. His friend Abe had said he would give him a pail, and his mother always gave him cool stuff like the watering can she gave him last year. Rip could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his beanie. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the savanna. He would have to wear a pair of socks instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of shorts.
He skipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like eucalyptus. His mom was standing there with a wooden spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a grin.
"Hi Mommy!" Rip replied softly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the oatmeal," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra roquefort cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Rip replied wildly. "Do we have the borscht ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his mother replied openly. "It only has to scramble for seventy-five minutes."
"Okay," Rip replied fearfully. "I'm gonna go to the garage."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some French fries 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," Rip responded, as he sat down to his French fries. "Let's hang lots of white balloons and cover the casket and the workbench with grey crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother thankfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Kyra Rinfield. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a grater."
"If only," Rip responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a smack. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."