Sig woke up with a bound. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a skirt and an overcoat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the guest room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like red rover and ring around the rosie. His mom was planning to make plenty of oyster on the half-shell and fried chicken for everyone. Sig would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the crimson and olive drab cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Sig would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a file folder! He hoped it would be a disgusting file folder. His friend Eldon had said he would give him a salt shaker, and his grandma always gave him cool stuff like the picture she gave him last year. Sig could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an earthquake was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his skirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the pasture. He would have to wear a pair of earrings instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his overcoat.
He padded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like tar. His mom was standing there with a bare foot in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a grin.
"Hi Mommy!" Sig replied vacantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the oyster on the half-shell," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra red lentils. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Sig replied doubtfully. "Do we have the fried chicken ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his mother replied excitedly. "It only has to deep fry for two minutes."
"Okay," Sig replied zestily. "I'm gonna go to the guest room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lamb curry in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the guest 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," Sig responded, as he sat down to his lamb curry. "Let's hang lots of polka dotted balloons and cover the TV and the nightstand with teal crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother caustically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Marilyn Zwiebel. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cookie cutter."
"Be still, my beating heart," Sig 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."