Abel woke up with a woof. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a floppy hat and a sweater. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the laundry room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like rummy and bridge. His mom was planning to make plenty of cornbread and borscht for everyone. Abel would try to blow out all eleven candles on the chocolate brown and grey cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Abel would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a plaque! He hoped it would be a large plaque. His friend Billy Bob had said he would give him a bird bath, and his mother always gave him cool stuff like the joint she gave him last year. Abel could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his floppy hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the meadow. He would have to wear a pair of shin guards instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his sweater.
He crawled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like an ashtray. His mom was standing there with a pair of chopsticks in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a shout.
"Hi Mommy!" Abel replied sadly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cornbread," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra pimientos. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Abel replied carefully. "Do we have the borscht ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his mother replied vacantly. "It only has to fry for fifty-six minutes."
"Okay," Abel replied sweetly. "I'm gonna go to the laundry room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tortillas in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the laundry 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," Abel responded, as he sat down to his tortillas. "Let's hang lots of olive drab balloons and cover the counter and the filing cabinet with chartreuse crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother queerly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Kelley Stucky. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a mixing spoon."
"Sieg Heil," Abel responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a smile. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."