Horsie woke up with a raised eyebrow. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a jerkin and a bra. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the kitchen was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like tag and golf. His mom was planning to make plenty of duck a l'orange and scrambled eggs for everyone. Horsie would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the terra cotta and chocolate brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Horsie would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a toothbrush! He hoped it would be a peculiar toothbrush. His friend Leroy had said he would give him a flute, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the can of soup she gave him last year. Horsie could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his jerkin. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the cliff. He would have to wear a burqa instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bra.
He slipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Listerine. His mom was standing there with a potato masher in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a wrinkled nose.
"Hi Mommy!" Horsie replied boisterously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the duck a l'orange," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra egg noodles. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Horsie replied peevishly. "Do we have the scrambled eggs ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his mother replied shakily. "It only has to slow cook for sixty-four minutes."
"Okay," Horsie replied hopelessly. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast turkey in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the kitchen 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," Horsie responded, as he sat down to his roast turkey. "Let's hang lots of purple balloons and cover the bookcase and the workbench with emerald green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother craftily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Shawna Newman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cookie cutter."
"I'll bet," Horsie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a flutter. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."