Ken woke up with an air kiss. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a denim skirt and a body shirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the rec room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Clue and golf. His mom was planning to make plenty of hamburgers and squash blossom soup for everyone. Ken would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the striped and yellow cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ken would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a tube of toothpaste! He hoped it would be a rigid tube of toothpaste. His friend Vinny had said he would give him a bottle of painkillers, and his fiancée always gave him cool stuff like the pair of headphones she gave him last year. Ken could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his denim skirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the butte. He would have to wear a wizard's hat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his body shirt.
He set out downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fried chicken. His mom was standing there with a cookie cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a frown.
"Hi Mommy!" Ken replied blankly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hamburgers," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cream of mushroom soup. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ken replied cruelly. "Do we have the squash blossom soup ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his mother replied impatiently. "It only has to freeze for sixteen minutes."
"Okay," Ken replied defiantly. "I'm gonna go to the rec room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pumpkin pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the rec room 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," Ken responded, as he sat down to his pumpkin pie. "Let's hang lots of jet black balloons and cover the chest of drawers and the dishwasher with crimson crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother glibly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Krystal Noonan. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a bare foot."
"Holy smokeroo," Ken 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."