Dale woke up with a beam. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a uniform and a corsage. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the master bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like Scrabble and tag. His mom was planning to make plenty of chocolate-covered ants and chicken chow mein for everyone. Dale would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the indigo and sparkly cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Dale would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an iPad! He hoped it would be a fluffy iPad. His friend Johnny had said he would give him a Lego set, and his grandmother always gave him cool stuff like the mousetrap she gave him last year. Dale 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 uniform. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the beach. He would have to wear a black armband instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his corsage.
He walked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rotten fish. His mom was standing there with a slotted spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a glare.
"Hi Mommy!" Dale replied repeatedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chocolate-covered ants," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra baking soda. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Dale replied calmly. "Do we have the chicken chow mein ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his mother replied speedily. "It only has to simmer for nineteen minutes."
"Okay," Dale replied shakily. "I'm gonna go to the master bathroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some doughnuts in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the master bathroom 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," Dale responded, as he sat down to his doughnuts. "Let's hang lots of navy blue balloons and cover the bench and the armoire with olive green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother gently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Helga Gorman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a garlic press."
"Petunia," Dale responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a grunt. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."