Raúl woke up with a pucker. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a suit of armor and a helmet. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the dining room 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 poker and Candy Land. His mom was planning to make plenty of cornbread and ravioli for everyone. Raúl would try to blow out all twenty-four candles on the polka dotted and purple cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Raúl would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a clarinet! He hoped it would be a multicolored clarinet. His friend Bruno had said he would give him a tube of toothpaste, and his sister always gave him cool stuff like the vase she gave him last year. Raúl could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his suit of armor. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the pasture. He would have to wear a pair of boxing gloves instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his helmet.
He barrelled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pencil shavings. His mom was standing there with a spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a beam.
"Hi Mommy!" Raúl replied uselessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cornbread," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra salt. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Raúl replied testily. "Do we have the ravioli ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his mother replied testily. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for eighty-three minutes."
"Okay," Raúl replied slyly. "I'm gonna go to the dining room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some applesauce in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dining 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," Raúl responded, as he sat down to his applesauce. "Let's hang lots of yellow balloons and cover the washstand and the computer with grey crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother nicely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Sophie Plunkett. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a melon baller."
"I'm outta here," Raúl responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snort. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."