Anton woke up with a snicker. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a robe and a bulletproof vest. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the laundry room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like doctor and blackjack. His mom was planning to make plenty of dry toast and egg salad sandwich for everyone. Anton would try to blow out all ten candles on the violet and fuchsia cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Anton would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a coconut! He hoped it would be a decrepit coconut. His friend Aristotle had said he would give him a feather, and his sister-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the pair of pliers she gave him last year. Anton could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his robe. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the ridge. He would have to wear a pair of dentures instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bulletproof vest.
He crawled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a swamp. His mom was standing there with a potato masher in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with an air kiss.
"Hi Mommy!" Anton replied cleverly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the dry toast," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra roquefort cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Anton replied stealthily. "Do we have the egg salad sandwich ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his mother replied dubiously. "It only has to boil for sixty-one minutes."
"Okay," Anton replied positively. "I'm gonna go to the laundry room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some squash blossom soup in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the laundry 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," Anton responded, as he sat down to his squash blossom soup. "Let's hang lots of polka dotted balloons and cover the dresser and the crib with peach crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother ingeniously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Tanya Marchetti. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of tongs."
"Shame," Anton 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."