Stephen woke up with a shout. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a space suit and a set of scrubs. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the front porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like checkers and tennis. His mom was planning to make plenty of shrimp and chopped liver for everyone. Stephen would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the forest green and mauve cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Stephen would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a teacup! He hoped it would be an ancient teacup. His friend Nicolas had said he would give him a dog collar, and his dad always gave him cool stuff like the needle and thread she gave him last year. Stephen could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a gale was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his space suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mesa. He would have to wear a set of vampire fangs instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his set of scrubs.
He set out downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cloves. His mom was standing there with a pair of chopsticks in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a finger gun.
"Hi Mommy!" Stephen replied despondently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the shrimp," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra onion powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Stephen replied confidently. "Do we have the chopped liver ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his mother replied later. "It only has to press for thirty minutes."
"Okay," Stephen replied lickety-split. "I'm gonna go to the front porch."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken gumbo in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the front porch 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," Stephen responded, as he sat down to his chicken gumbo. "Let's hang lots of azure balloons and cover the casket and the display case with jet black crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother confidently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Phyllis Jankowski. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a candy thermometer."
"Nope," Stephen responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a glare. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."