Austin woke up with a dope slap. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a Superman costume and a uniform. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the patio was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited four of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like tennis and red light green light. His mom was planning to make plenty of ceviche and bread and butter for everyone. Austin would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the olive green and metallic red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Austin would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a balloon! He hoped it would be a gross balloon. His friend Alan had said he would give him a yardstick, and his fiancée always gave him cool stuff like the Band-aid she gave him last year. Austin could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his Superman costume. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the cliff. He would have to wear a tailcoat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his uniform.
He crawled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like orange peel. His mom was standing there with a foot in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a face palm.
"Hi Mommy!" Austin replied slowly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ceviche," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra pretzels. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Austin replied blankly. "Do we have the bread and butter ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his mother replied stealthily. "It only has to blend for forty-six minutes."
"Okay," Austin replied clumsily. "I'm gonna go to the patio."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some egg drop soup 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," Austin responded, as he sat down to his egg drop soup. "Let's hang lots of golden balloons and cover the nightstand and the TV with silver crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother slowly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Clarabell Weatherford. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a paring knife."
"Big deal," Austin responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a belly laugh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."