Roman woke up with a snicker. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of toe shoes and a pair of moon boots. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the garage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like jump rope and follow the leader. His mom was planning to make plenty of mulligan stew and lime sherbet for everyone. Roman would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the salmon and emerald green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Roman would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Hostess Ding Dong! He hoped it would be an unusual Hostess Ding Dong. His friend Devin had said he would give him a ruler, and his mother always gave him cool stuff like the dollhouse she gave him last year. Roman could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a driving rain was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of toe shoes. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the seashore. He would have to wear a tie instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of moon boots.
He zoomed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like smoke. His mom was standing there with an oven mitt in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a chuckle.
"Hi Mommy!" Roman replied oddly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mulligan stew," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra molasses. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Roman replied wryly. "Do we have the lime sherbet ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his mother replied trustingly. "It only has to marinate for thirteen minutes."
"Okay," Roman replied hopefully. "I'm gonna go to the garage."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some burritos 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," Roman responded, as he sat down to his burritos. "Let's hang lots of green balloons and cover the billiard table and the display case with pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother wildly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Polly Sewell. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a melon baller."
"Pshaw," Roman responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a death glare. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."