Phillip woke up with a bound. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a burqa and a tutu. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the servant's quarters was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited sixteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like marbles and billiards. His mom was planning to make plenty of biscuits and gravy and hash for everyone. Phillip would try to blow out all twenty candles on the brown and brilliant orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Phillip would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a picture! He hoped it would be an ordinary picture. His friend Kim had said he would give him a tablet computer, and his mom always gave him cool stuff like the chain she gave him last year. Phillip could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pall of doom was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his burqa. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the outback. He would have to wear a dress instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his tutu.
He cantered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fish. His mom was standing there with a grater in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a woof.
"Hi Mommy!" Phillip replied slyly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the biscuits and gravy," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra potato chips. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Phillip replied charmingly. "Do we have the hash ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his mother replied defiantly. "It only has to sauté for eighty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Phillip replied vigorously. "I'm gonna go to the servant's quarters."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some squash blossom soup in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the servant's quarters 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," Phillip responded, as he sat down to his squash blossom soup. "Let's hang lots of ivory balloons and cover the bunk bed and the washstand with aquamarine crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother pitifully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Riley Wallace. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"Durn it," Phillip responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a finger gun. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."