Ivan 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 T-shirt and a parka. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eight of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like blackjack and tag. His mom was planning to make plenty of scrambled eggs and country glazed ham for everyone. Ivan would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the carrot-orange and indigo cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ivan would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a chart! He hoped it would be a crisp chart. His friend Morton had said he would give him a hacksaw, and his dad always gave him cool stuff like the wrench she gave him last year. Ivan could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a lightning storm 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 circus tent. He would have to wear a locket instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his parka.
He waltzed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pipe tobacco. His mom was standing there with a potato masher in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a stiff upper lip.
"Hi Mommy!" Ivan replied immediately. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the scrambled eggs," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra white rice. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ivan replied hastily. "Do we have the country glazed ham ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his mother replied numbly. "It only has to toast for forty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Ivan replied confidently. "I'm gonna go to the closet."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some burritos in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the closet 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," Ivan responded, as he sat down to his burritos. "Let's hang lots of brilliant orange balloons and cover the pool table and the fainting couch with pea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother positively. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Dani Salinger. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Very interesting," Ivan responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a beam. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."