Smiley woke up with a belly laugh. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of sandals and a set of scrubs. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the corridor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like chess and jump rope. His mom was planning to make plenty of catfish stew and hash for everyone. Smiley would try to blow out all twenty-one candles on the carrot-orange and navy blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Smiley would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a piece of candy! He hoped it would be a chic piece of candy. His friend Preston had said he would give him a nail, and his fiancée always gave him cool stuff like the dart she gave him last year. Smiley could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of sandals. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the hill. He would have to wear a pair of dentures instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his set of scrubs.
He slunk downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like paint. His mom was standing there with a sharp knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a sneeze.
"Hi Mommy!" Smiley replied pityingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the catfish stew," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra potato chips. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Smiley replied wearily. "Do we have the hash ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his mother replied blindly. "It only has to sauté for eight minutes."
"Okay," Smiley replied crankily. "I'm gonna go to the corridor."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some borscht in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the corridor 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," Smiley responded, as he sat down to his borscht. "Let's hang lots of burgundy balloons and cover the safe and the hammock with chocolate brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother zestily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Kyra Cunningham. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a strainer."
"Wahoo," Smiley responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a glare. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."