Shepard woke up with a belch. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a tinfoil hat and a wristwatch. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the boudoir was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like seven-up and billiards. His dad was planning to make plenty of catfish stew and sweet potatoes for everyone. Shepard would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the red and blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Shepard would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an accordion! He hoped it would be a hard accordion. His friend Scarlett had said she would give him a shovel, and his grandmother always gave him cool stuff like the cell phone she gave him last year. Shepard could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his tinfoil hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountain. He would have to wear a thong instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his wristwatch.
He rolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like an ashtray. His dad was standing there with a blender in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a raspberry.
"Hi Daddy!" Shepard replied menacingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the catfish stew," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh papaya. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Shepard replied unexpectedly. "Do we have the sweet potatoes ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his father replied lazily. "It only has to heat for twenty-six minutes."
"Okay," Shepard replied lazily. "I'm gonna go to the boudoir."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some prime rib in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boudoir first?" he begged.
"It looks just like it always does," his father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Shepard responded, as he sat down to his prime rib. "Let's hang lots of forest green balloons and cover the counter and the dresser with aquamarine crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father timidly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Shawna Rossi. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of chopsticks."
"Alright," Shepard responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a smile. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."