Floyd woke up with a sneeze. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of heels and a visor. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the basement was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like Monopoly and hopscotch. His mom was planning to make plenty of dirty rice and bread and butter for everyone. Floyd would try to blow out all five candles on the olive drab and emerald green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Floyd would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a stick of gum! He hoped it would be a hefty stick of gum. His friend Stephen had said he would give him a helmet, and his fiancée always gave him cool stuff like the pizza she gave him last year. Floyd 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 pair of heels. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mesa. He would have to wear a pair of roller skates instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his visor.
He sailed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like trouble. His mom was standing there with a melon baller in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a belch.
"Hi Mommy!" Floyd replied uselessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the dirty rice," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra ground pork. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Floyd replied admiringly. "Do we have the bread and butter ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his mother replied woefully. "It only has to simmer for one minute."
"Okay," Floyd replied gruffly. "I'm gonna go to the basement."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken pot pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the basement 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," Floyd responded, as he sat down to his chicken pot pie. "Let's hang lots of mauve balloons and cover the casket and the wardrobe with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother mysteriously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Ashley Berkowitz. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Boohoo," Floyd responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a cackle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."