Ryan woke up with a cheer. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of toe shoes and a set of dentures. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the library was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Candy Land and treasure hunt. His mom was planning to make plenty of hot dogs and Swiss cheese for everyone. Ryan would try to blow out all twenty-eight candles on the rose and jade cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ryan would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a sack! He hoped it would be a peculiar sack. His friend Dusty had said he would give him a fingernail clipper, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the coat check ticket she gave him last year. Ryan 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 toe shoes. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the plateau. He would have to wear a pair of sweatpants instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his set of dentures.
He straggled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rotting meat. His mom was standing there with a corkscrew in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a curtsey.
"Hi Mommy!" Ryan replied threateningly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hot dogs," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra applesauce. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ryan replied testily. "Do we have the Swiss cheese ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his mother replied shakily. "It only has to microwave for seventy-eight minutes."
"Okay," Ryan replied shyly. "I'm gonna go to the library."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some refried beans in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the library 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," Ryan responded, as he sat down to his refried beans. "Let's hang lots of yellow balloons and cover the nightstand and the card table with turquoise crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother tensely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Leila Brock. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a blender."
"Shame," Ryan responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a raised eyebrow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."