Robert woke up with a snuffle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a trench coat and a pair of culottes. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the boudoir was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like crazy eights and Candy Land. His mom was planning to make plenty of egg rolls and candy for everyone. Robert would try to blow out all seven candles on the aqua and turquoise cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Robert would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fish bowl! He hoped it would be a weird fish bowl. His friend Jesus had said he would give him a microphone, and his grandmother always gave him cool stuff like the daisy she gave him last year. Robert could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his trench coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the cave. He would have to wear a pair of dentures instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of culottes.
He trekked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like bubble gum. His mom was standing there with a pastry blender in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a shout.
"Hi Mommy!" Robert replied calmly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg rolls," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra Dijon mustard. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Robert replied majestically. "Do we have the candy ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his mother replied noisily. "It only has to fry for forty-four minutes."
"Okay," Robert replied dubiously. "I'm gonna go to the boudoir."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some popcorn in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boudoir 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," Robert responded, as he sat down to his popcorn. "Let's hang lots of orange balloons and cover the couch and the credenza with olive drab crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother brashly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Sheila Myers. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"Gosh darn," Robert responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a power fist. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."