Clifton woke up with a pound of the chest. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a fez and a pocket watch. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the billiard room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like checkers and crazy eights. His mom was planning to make plenty of steak and egg drop soup for everyone. Clifton would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the azure and white cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Clifton would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Helmholz resonator! He hoped it would be a nice Helmholz resonator. His friend Bones had said he would give him a spinning wheel, and his grandma always gave him cool stuff like the flash drive she gave him last year. Clifton could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his fez. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the hill. He would have to wear a pair of booties instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pocket watch.
He capered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like roasted peppers. His mom was standing there with a wooden spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a crow.
"Hi Mommy!" Clifton replied carefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the steak," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra yogurt. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Clifton replied despondently. "Do we have the egg drop soup ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his mother replied furiously. "It only has to shake for seventy-three minutes."
"Okay," Clifton replied awkwardly. "I'm gonna go to the billiard room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some wienerschnitzel in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the billiard 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," Clifton responded, as he sat down to his wienerschnitzel. "Let's hang lots of lime-green balloons and cover the recliner and the china cabinet with chartreuse crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother reluctantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Fawn Dodds. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Of course," Clifton responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a fist bump. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."