Arnold woke up with a honk. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a fur coat and a dunce cap. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the workshop was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-one of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like old maid and tennis. His mom was planning to make plenty of cinnamon toast and smoked salmon for everyone. Arnold would try to blow out all thirty-five candles on the salmon and pea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Arnold would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a billfold! He hoped it would be a well worn billfold. His friend Jerry had said he would give him a bone, and his sister always gave him cool stuff like the hammer she gave him last year. Arnold could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a tornado was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his fur coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the housing development. He would have to wear a coat of mail instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his dunce cap.
He clambered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Magic Markers. His mom was standing there with a pair of chopsticks in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a wag of the finger.
"Hi Mommy!" Arnold replied humbly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cinnamon toast," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra ground beef. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Arnold replied languidly. "Do we have the smoked salmon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his mother replied despondently. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for seventy minutes."
"Okay," Arnold replied menacingly. "I'm gonna go to the workshop."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some moo goo gai pan in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the workshop 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," Arnold responded, as he sat down to his moo goo gai pan. "Let's hang lots of maroon balloons and cover the hatstand and the end table with polka dotted crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother tensely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Elsie Salinger. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a sharp knife."
"Castor and Pollux! Blow me to Bermuda," Arnold responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snigger. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."