Ira woke up with a smack. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a bowler hat and an evening gown. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the cage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like hearts and solitaire. His mom was planning to make plenty of prune pudding and blueberry pie for everyone. Ira would try to blow out all ten candles on the camouflage and carrot-orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ira would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a soccer ball! He hoped it would be a broken soccer ball. His friend Alberto had said he would give him a bag of groceries, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the Barbie doll she gave him last year. Ira could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his bowler hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the forest. He would have to wear a space suit instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his evening gown.
He sidled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a stable. His mom was standing there with a pair of tongs in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a sniff.
"Hi Mommy!" Ira replied blankly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the prune pudding," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra sesame seeds. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ira replied blissfully. "Do we have the blueberry pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his mother replied lazily. "It only has to braise for seventy-three minutes."
"Okay," Ira replied uselessly. "I'm gonna go to the cage."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some biscuits and gravy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the cage 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," Ira responded, as he sat down to his biscuits and gravy. "Let's hang lots of crimson balloons and cover the washstand and the chair with silver crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother nonchalantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Rebecca Black. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a wooden spoon."
"Waa," Ira responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a smile. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."