Jacques woke up with a twitch. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a necklace and a tuxedo. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the dungeon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like dodge ball and jacks. His mom was planning to make plenty of sauerkraut and cornbread for everyone. Jacques would try to blow out all eight candles on the jade and azure cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jacques would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a flashlight! He hoped it would be a hideous flashlight. His friend Rick had said he would give him a diary, and his mom always gave him cool stuff like the soccer ball she gave him last year. Jacques could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his necklace. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountaintop. He would have to wear a bib instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his tuxedo.
He trotted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Chanel. His mom was standing there with an electric paint mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a furrowed brow.
"Hi Mommy!" Jacques replied fearfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the sauerkraut," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cottage cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jacques replied vigorously. "Do we have the cornbread ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his mother replied dubiously. "It only has to heat in microwave for ten minutes."
"Okay," Jacques replied courageously. "I'm gonna go to the dungeon."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fondue in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dungeon 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," Jacques responded, as he sat down to his fondue. "Let's hang lots of ivory balloons and cover the armoire and the fainting couch with jade crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother excitedly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Meg Gotti. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a blender."
"Ow," Jacques responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a beam. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."