Cheng woke up with a grunt. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a T-shirt and a tutu. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the lounge was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like blackjack and croquet. His mom was planning to make plenty of egg salad sandwich and falafel for everyone. Cheng would try to blow out all ten candles on the rose and lavender cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Cheng would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a banjo! He hoped it would be a flaky banjo. His friend Cory had said he would give him a book, and his mother-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the dog biscuit she gave him last year. Cheng could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a gale was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his T-shirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the range. He would have to wear a diamond bracelet instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his tutu.
He went downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like sauerkraut. His mom was standing there with a pair of tongs in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a caress.
"Hi Mommy!" Cheng replied bravely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg salad sandwich," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra watercress. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Cheng replied innocently. "Do we have the falafel ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his mother replied properly. "It only has to blanch for fifty-two minutes."
"Okay," Cheng replied sweetly. "I'm gonna go to the lounge."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some applesauce in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the lounge 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," Cheng responded, as he sat down to his applesauce. "Let's hang lots of scarlet balloons and cover the billiard table and the carpet with forest green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother sorrowfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Julie Onassis. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a chopstick."
"Par bleu," Cheng responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a flutter. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."