Andrew woke up with a glare. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a hoodie and a cummerbund. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the auditorium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like musical chairs and follow the leader. His mom was planning to make plenty of burritos and chicken chow mein for everyone. Andrew would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the black and brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Andrew would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hat! He hoped it would be a striped hat. His friend Beelzebub had said he would give him a hand puppet, and his wife always gave him cool stuff like the stuffed kitten she gave him last year. Andrew could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his hoodie. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the oasis. He would have to wear a tunic instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his cummerbund.
He crawled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cigar smoke. His mom was standing there with a napkin in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a tear.
"Hi Mommy!" Andrew replied lickety-split. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the burritos," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra powdered milk. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Andrew replied cautiously. "Do we have the chicken chow mein ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his mother replied sheepishly. "It only has to sauté for eighty-one minutes."
"Okay," Andrew replied reluctantly. "I'm gonna go to the auditorium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ham in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the auditorium 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," Andrew responded, as he sat down to his ham. "Let's hang lots of terra cotta balloons and cover the coat rack and the table with burgundy crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother greedily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Wilma Javits. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric mixer."
"Bam," Andrew responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a chuckle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."