Octavio woke up with a chuckle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a nose ring and a dunce cap. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the auditorium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like hide and seek and checkers. His mom was planning to make plenty of hamburgers and applesauce for everyone. Octavio would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the ivory and salmon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Octavio would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a peanut! He hoped it would be a smelly peanut. His friend Barry had said he would give him a church key, and his grandma always gave him cool stuff like the saw she gave him last year. Octavio could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a tornado was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his nose ring. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the stream. He would have to wear a jumpsuit instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his dunce cap.
He straggled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like toast. His mom was standing there with a corkscrew in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a clenched fist.
"Hi Mommy!" Octavio replied testily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hamburgers," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra shallots. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Octavio replied elatedly. "Do we have the applesauce ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his mother replied steadily. "It only has to spread into container for eighty-one minutes."
"Okay," Octavio replied flightily. "I'm gonna go to the auditorium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some prime rib in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the auditorium 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," Octavio responded, as he sat down to his prime rib. "Let's hang lots of magenta balloons and cover the washstand and the coat rack with pea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother victoriously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Thelma Rodriguez. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Ack," Octavio responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a raised eyebrow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."