Benjamin woke up with a twitch. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a fedora and a space suit. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the salon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Parcheesi and leapfrog. His mom was planning to make plenty of ham and catfish stew for everyone. Benjamin would try to blow out all thirty-five candles on the pink and pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Benjamin would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a watering can! He hoped it would be a funny watering can. His friend Austin had said he would give him a snail, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the clothespin she gave him last year. Benjamin could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a gale was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his fedora. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the cesspool. He would have to wear a pair of bloomers instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his space suit.
He straggled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pepper. His mom was standing there with a foot in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a wink.
"Hi Mommy!" Benjamin replied diligently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ham," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra ground cumin. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Benjamin replied noisily. "Do we have the catfish stew ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his mother replied nimbly. "It only has to sear for thirteen minutes."
"Okay," Benjamin replied repeatedly. "I'm gonna go to the salon."
"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 salon 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," Benjamin responded, as he sat down to his cotton candy. "Let's hang lots of navy blue balloons and cover the overstuffed chair and the end table with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother irritably. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Xaviera Dayton. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a melon baller."
"Boo," Benjamin responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a hiccup. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."