Stan woke up with a yawn. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a ring and a pair of pajamas. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the doghouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like shuffleboard and treasure hunt. His mom was planning to make plenty of blueberry pie and macaroni for everyone. Stan would try to blow out all fifteen candles on the periwinkle and maroon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Stan would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a castanet! He hoped it would be an important castanet. His friend Dillon had said he would give him a calculator, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the bedpan she gave him last year. Stan could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his ring. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the stream. He would have to wear a cummerbund instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of pajamas.
He bounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like popcorn. His mom was standing there with a turkey baster in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a wag of the finger.
"Hi Mommy!" Stan replied softly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the blueberry pie," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra onion. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Stan replied nonchalantly. "Do we have the macaroni ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," his mother replied greedily. "It only has to slow cook for ninety minutes."
"Okay," Stan replied fondly. "I'm gonna go to the doghouse."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fried okra in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the doghouse 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," Stan responded, as he sat down to his fried okra. "Let's hang lots of maroon balloons and cover the bench and the bath mat with chocolate brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother stealthily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Winnie Quick. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of tongs."
"Drat," Stan responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a crow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."