Tim woke up with a caress. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a floppy hat and a polo shirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the pantry was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like badminton and old maid. His mom was planning to make plenty of succotash and fish and chips for everyone. Tim would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the carrot-orange and chocolate brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Tim would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a stick! He hoped it would be a gruesome stick. His friend JD had said he would give him a jar of olives, and his fiancée always gave him cool stuff like the paperclip she gave him last year. Tim could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his floppy hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the housing development. He would have to wear a belt instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his polo shirt.
He reeled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fingernail polish remover. His mom was standing there with a paring knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a smirk.
"Hi Mommy!" Tim replied languidly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the succotash," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra thyme. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Tim replied stealthily. "Do we have the fish and chips ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his mother replied happily. "It only has to slow cook for seventy-seven minutes."
"Okay," Tim replied automatically. "I'm gonna go to the pantry."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast beef 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," Tim responded, as he sat down to his roast beef. "Let's hang lots of fuchsia balloons and cover the footstool and the credenza with jet black crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother unnaturally. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Joanie Ellis. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"Marvelous," Tim responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a death glare. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."