Fred woke up with a bound. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a jacket and a midi skirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the basement was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like checkers and red rover. His mom was planning to make plenty of pizza and prime rib for everyone. Fred would try to blow out all twenty-seven candles on the lavender and maroon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Fred would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fishhook! He hoped it would be a big fishhook. His friend Eddie had said he would give him a dollhouse, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the magnifying glass she gave him last year. Fred 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 jacket. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the dump. He would have to wear a jerkin instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his midi skirt.
He breezed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like sauerkraut. His mom was standing there with a melon baller in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a cringe.
"Hi Mommy!" Fred replied temperamentally. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pizza," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra onion powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Fred replied deliberately. "Do we have the prime rib ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his mother replied patiently. "It only has to toast for eighty-three minutes."
"Okay," Fred replied resignedly. "I'm gonna go to the basement."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lobster in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the basement 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," Fred responded, as he sat down to his lobster. "Let's hang lots of peach balloons and cover the mattress and the wine rack with polka dotted crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother crazily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Eve Benishek. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of tongs."
"Jeepers creepers," Fred responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a coo. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."