Anton woke up with a flutter. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a diaper and a mortarboard. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the guest room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like shuffleboard and pool. His mom was planning to make plenty of egg salad sandwich and hamburgers for everyone. Anton would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the purple and khaki cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Anton would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a purse! He hoped it would be a fluffy purse. His friend Doc had said he would give him a peanut, and his mom always gave him cool stuff like the candle she gave him last year. Anton could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hailstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his diaper. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the lakeside. He would have to wear a pair of safety glasses instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his mortarboard.
He strode downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like turpentine. His mom was standing there with a turkey baster in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a roar.
"Hi Mommy!" Anton replied tensely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg salad sandwich," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra heavy cream. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Anton replied repeatedly. "Do we have the hamburgers ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his mother replied nonchalantly. "It only has to fry glumly in heavy skillet for forty-one minutes."
"Okay," Anton replied threateningly. "I'm gonna go to the guest room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cornbread in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the guest 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," Anton responded, as he sat down to his cornbread. "Let's hang lots of olive green balloons and cover the nightstand and the chair with terra cotta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother miserably. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Debbie Thurman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Ouch," Anton responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sigh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."