Upton woke up with a tear. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a bonnet and a winter coat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited sixteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like rummy and golf. His mom was planning to make plenty of shrimp and jambalaya for everyone. Upton would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the red and hot pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Upton would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a smart phone! He hoped it would be an unusual smart phone. His friend Rover had said he would give him a stuffed owl, and his mother-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the saddle she gave him last year. Upton could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a tornado was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his bonnet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the dump. He would have to wear a wig instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his winter coat.
He paraded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like burning trash. His mom was standing there with a wooden spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a kiss.
"Hi Mommy!" Upton replied queerly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the shrimp," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cilantro. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Upton replied fearlessly. "Do we have the jambalaya ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his mother replied stupidly. "It only has to sauté for eighty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Upton replied needlessly. "I'm gonna go to the porch."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ham in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the porch 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," Upton responded, as he sat down to his ham. "Let's hang lots of turquoise balloons and cover the dresser and the armoire with crimson crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother suavely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Rosie Wheeler. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a paring knife."
"Ay chihuahua," Upton responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a smirk. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."