Zachary woke up with a guffaw. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a badge and a bulletproof vest. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the servant's quarters was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like croquet and trivia. His mom was planning to make plenty of lobster bisque and tofu for everyone. Zachary would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the jet black and striped cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Zachary would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a diagram! He hoped it would be a polished diagram. His friend Damon had said he would give him an apple, and his dad always gave him cool stuff like the bowling ball she gave him last year. Zachary 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 badge. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the veld. He would have to wear a gunny sack instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bulletproof vest.
He rolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cedar. His mom was standing there with a slotted spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a hoot.
"Hi Mommy!" Zachary replied haughtily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lobster bisque," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra strawberries. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Zachary replied carefully. "Do we have the tofu ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his mother replied angrily. "It only has to marinate for ten minutes."
"Okay," Zachary replied wryly. "I'm gonna go to the servant's quarters."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some egg salad sandwich in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the servant's quarters 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," Zachary responded, as he sat down to his egg salad sandwich. "Let's hang lots of fuchsia balloons and cover the stool and the rocking chair with black crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother dreamily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Clarabell Beach. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat tenderizer."
"Uh-huh," Zachary responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a beam. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."