Franklin woke up with a finger gun. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a tutu and a poncho. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the solarium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like doctor and red light green light. His mom was planning to make plenty of dirty rice and egg salad sandwich for everyone. Franklin would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the emerald green and carrot-orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Franklin would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a magnet! He hoped it would be a rancid magnet. His friend Tommy had said he would give him a contract, and his grandpa always gave him cool stuff like the bowl she gave him last year. Franklin could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a tornado was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his tutu. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the river. He would have to wear a mask instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his poncho.
He swaggered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like autumn leaves. His mom was standing there with a pair of tongs in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a cringe.
"Hi Mommy!" Franklin replied temperamentally. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the dirty rice," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra vanilla. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Franklin replied despondently. "Do we have the egg salad sandwich ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his mother replied patiently. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for fifty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Franklin replied kindly. "I'm gonna go to the solarium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chopped liver 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," Franklin responded, as he sat down to his chopped liver. "Let's hang lots of azure balloons and cover the coat rack and the piano with teal crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother sourly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Wilma Lombardi. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a strainer."
"Bless my hide," Franklin responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a smirk. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."