Cat woke up with a twitch. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of shin guards and a balaclava. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the dining room 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 crazy eights. His mom was planning to make plenty of oatmeal and country glazed ham for everyone. Cat would try to blow out all twelve candles on the beige and aquamarine cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Cat would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an umbrella! He hoped it would be a decrepit umbrella. His friend Josh had said he would give him an amulet, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the pom-pom she gave him last year. Cat 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 pair of shin guards. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the village. He would have to wear a jerkin instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his balaclava.
He climbed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a swimming pool. His mom was standing there with a chopstick in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a frown.
"Hi Mommy!" Cat replied valiantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the oatmeal," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra chopped broccoli. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Cat replied clumsily. "Do we have the country glazed ham ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his mother replied sheepishly. "It only has to fry for thirty-one minutes."
"Okay," Cat replied joyously. "I'm gonna go to the dining room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some candy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dining 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," Cat responded, as he sat down to his candy. "Let's hang lots of green balloons and cover the dishwasher and the four-poster bed with pea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother hastily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Wilma Marsden. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a basting brush."
"Suffering sassafras," Cat responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a twitch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."