Yancey woke up with a sigh. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a romper and a moustache. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the salon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like doctor and old maid. His mom was planning to make plenty of crab rangoon and beef bouillon for everyone. Yancey would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the blue and turquoise cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Yancey would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an ironing board! He hoped it would be a crisp ironing board. His friend Don had said he would give him an artificial flower, and his aunt always gave him cool stuff like the hot potato she gave him last year. Yancey could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his romper. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the river. He would have to wear a diamond bracelet instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his moustache.
He marched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pumpkin pie. His mom was standing there with a piece of cheesecloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a raspberry.
"Hi Mommy!" Yancey replied sourly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the crab rangoon," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra olive oil. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Yancey replied noisily. "Do we have the beef bouillon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his mother replied gracefully. "It only has to blanch for twenty-two minutes."
"Okay," Yancey replied awkwardly. "I'm gonna go to the salon."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ramen noodles in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the salon 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," Yancey responded, as he sat down to his ramen noodles. "Let's hang lots of magenta balloons and cover the display case and the overstuffed chair with grey crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother angrily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Madalyn Noonan. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spatula."
"Gawwwleeee," Yancey responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a woof. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."