Macon woke up with a laugh. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a mask and a pair of jackboots. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the workshop was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like trivia and volleyball. His dad was planning to make plenty of roast beef and ham for everyone. Macon would try to blow out all thirty candles on the beige and jet black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Macon would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a toy! He hoped it would be a dirty toy. His friend Loretta had said she would give him a cowbell, and his fiancée always gave him cool stuff like the Helmholz resonator she gave him last year. Macon could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his mask. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the housing development. He would have to wear a belly button jewel instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of jackboots.
He stormed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like popcorn. His dad was standing there with a potato peeler in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a fist bump.
"Hi Daddy!" Macon replied hopelessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast beef," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra blue cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Macon replied coolly. "Do we have the ham ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his father replied thankfully. "It only has to smoke for seventy-one minutes."
"Okay," Macon replied quickly. "I'm gonna go to the workshop."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some crab rangoon 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 father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Macon responded, as he sat down to his crab rangoon. "Let's hang lots of navy blue balloons and cover the mattress and the billiard table with beige crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father lazily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Lindy Gonzales. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a sharp knife."
"Drop dead," Macon responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a wince. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."