Gerald woke up with a smirk. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a lab coat and a false moustache. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the solarium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like croquet and billiards. His mom was planning to make plenty of pie a la mode and chicken soup for everyone. Gerald would try to blow out all twelve candles on the orange and sparkly cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Gerald would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a rose! He hoped it would be a hideous rose. His friend Hugo had said he would give him a toilet plunger, and his grandmother always gave him cool stuff like the billiard ball she gave him last year. Gerald could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his lab coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the river. He would have to wear a pair of earrings instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his false moustache.
He slithered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like baking cookies. His mom was standing there with a strainer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a gurgle.
"Hi Mommy!" Gerald replied clumsily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pie a la mode," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra salsa. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Gerald replied numbly. "Do we have the chicken soup ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his mother replied excitedly. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for ten minutes."
"Okay," Gerald replied cruelly. "I'm gonna go to the solarium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fried eggs in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the solarium 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," Gerald responded, as he sat down to his fried eggs. "Let's hang lots of jet black balloons and cover the water bed and the china cabinet with carrot-orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother blankly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Ana Pythagoras. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a bare foot."
"Never," Gerald responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a stiff upper lip. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."