Dillon woke up with a snigger. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a fig leaf and a tailcoat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the pantry was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like hide and seek and seven-up. His mom was planning to make plenty of burritos and cinnamon toast for everyone. Dillon would try to blow out all seven candles on the amber and peach cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Dillon would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hip flask! He hoped it would be a porcelain hip flask. His friend John Paul had said he would give him a daisy, and his grandfather always gave him cool stuff like the dog collar she gave him last year. Dillon could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his fig leaf. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the path. He would have to wear a ribbon instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his tailcoat.
He swaggered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like maple syrup. His mom was standing there with a melon baller in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a backward glance.
"Hi Mommy!" Dillon replied nervously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the burritos," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra shredded coconut. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Dillon replied majestically. "Do we have the cinnamon toast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his mother replied sympathetically. "It only has to spread into container for fifty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Dillon replied thankfully. "I'm gonna go to the pantry."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chocolate-covered ants in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pantry 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," Dillon responded, as he sat down to his chocolate-covered ants. "Let's hang lots of striped balloons and cover the cushion and the dresser with metallic red crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother courageously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Mary Lou Allison. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a knife."
"Piffle," Dillon responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a smack. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."