Kellen woke up with a gurgle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a tam o'shanter and a coonskin hat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the attic was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like Monopoly and billiards. His mom was planning to make plenty of tacos and crumb cake for everyone. Kellen would try to blow out all six candles on the ivory and blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kellen would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Frisbee! He hoped it would be a mysterious Frisbee. His friend Charlie had said he would give him a hair brush, and his sister always gave him cool stuff like the salt shaker she gave him last year. Kellen could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sandstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his tam o'shanter. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the circus tent. He would have to wear a big smile instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his coonskin hat.
He strolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like diesel exhaust. His mom was standing there with a melon baller in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a jeer.
"Hi Mommy!" Kellen replied tenderly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tacos," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra water chestnuts. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kellen replied languidly. "Do we have the crumb cake ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his mother replied patiently. "It only has to arrange for seventy-eight minutes."
"Okay," Kellen replied fearfully. "I'm gonna go to the attic."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some hamburgers in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the attic 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," Kellen responded, as he sat down to his hamburgers. "Let's hang lots of olive drab balloons and cover the ottoman and the settee with beige crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother furiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Candi Greco. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a melon baller."
"Alleluia," Kellen responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with an air kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."