Kellen 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 coat and a pair of briefs. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the hall was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Simon Says and musical chairs. His mom was planning to make plenty of tuna casserole and hors d'oeuvre for everyone. Kellen would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the hot pink and jade cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kellen would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a magnet! He hoped it would be an aromatic magnet. His friend Brandon had said he would give him a Bible, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the stuffed bunny she gave him last year. Kellen could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountain. He would have to wear a pair of combat boots instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of briefs.
He barrelled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Chanel. His mom was standing there with a garlic press in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a wrinkled nose.
"Hi Mommy!" Kellen replied woodenly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tuna casserole," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra dill pickles. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kellen replied brashly. "Do we have the hors d'oeuvre ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his mother replied softly. "It only has to boil for fifty minutes."
"Okay," Kellen replied irritably. "I'm gonna go to the hall."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pie a la mode in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the hall 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," Kellen responded, as he sat down to his pie a la mode. "Let's hang lots of beige balloons and cover the wardrobe and the piano with white crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother viciously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Liling Hook. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat tenderizer."
"Puppy biscuits," Kellen responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a bow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."