Manfred woke up with a jeer. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a kilt and a belt buckle. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the dining room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like red rover and dominos. His mom was planning to make plenty of chicken gumbo and mushroom quiche for everyone. Manfred would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the metallic red and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Manfred would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a chamber pot! He hoped it would be a puzzling chamber pot. His friend Wayne had said he would give him a box of candy, and his sister-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the camera she gave him last year. Manfred could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his kilt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the veld. He would have to wear a pair of gloves instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his belt buckle.
He ran downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like chloroform. His mom was standing there with a knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a flinch.
"Hi Mommy!" Manfred replied fervently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken gumbo," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra raisins. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Manfred replied madly. "Do we have the mushroom quiche ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his mother replied woodenly. "It only has to melt for nineteen minutes."
"Okay," Manfred replied sternly. "I'm gonna go to the dining room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chopped liver in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dining room 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," Manfred responded, as he sat down to his chopped liver. "Let's hang lots of salmon balloons and cover the footstool and the safe with metallic red crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother urgently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Rosie Barrett. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a knife."
"Ugh," Manfred responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a pout. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."