Benjamin woke up with a shrug. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of contact lenses and a romper. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the patio was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like volleyball and trivia. His mom was planning to make plenty of cherries jubilee and pizza for everyone. Benjamin would try to blow out all twenty candles on the amber and aqua cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Benjamin would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a sack of potatoes! He hoped it would be a big sack of potatoes. His friend Biff had said he would give him a bone, and his mother-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the hand puppet she gave him last year. Benjamin could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a windstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of contact lenses. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the field. He would have to wear a gunny sack instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his romper.
He flounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Max Factor. His mom was standing there with an oven mitt in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a bound.
"Hi Mommy!" Benjamin replied urgently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cherries jubilee," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra pretzels. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Benjamin replied awkwardly. "Do we have the pizza ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his mother replied boldly. "It only has to steam for forty-two minutes."
"Okay," Benjamin replied flightily. "I'm gonna go to the patio."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lobster in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the patio 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," Benjamin responded, as he sat down to his lobster. "Let's hang lots of silver balloons and cover the card table and the workbench with aqua crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother fearfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Godiva Nurbabayev. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a sharp knife."
"Teehee," Benjamin responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a twitch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."