Richard woke up with a smack. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a Panama hat and a pair of sweatpants. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the front porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like roulette and Scrabble. His mom was planning to make plenty of sweet potatoes and candy for everyone. Richard would try to blow out all thirty-five candles on the lime-green and tan cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Richard would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an ironing board! He hoped it would be a chic ironing board. His friend Dustin had said he would give him a feather duster, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the iPhone she gave him last year. Richard could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his Panama hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the prairie. He would have to wear a fig leaf instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of sweatpants.
He tumbled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cheese. His mom was standing there with an electric mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a simper.
"Hi Mommy!" Richard replied greedily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the sweet potatoes," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra peanut butter. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Richard replied fearlessly. "Do we have the candy ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," his mother replied fearlessly. "It only has to boil for thirty-six minutes."
"Okay," Richard replied courageously. "I'm gonna go to the front porch."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pot roast 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," Richard responded, as he sat down to his pot roast. "Let's hang lots of khaki balloons and cover the mattress and the bar stool with mauve crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother carelessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Faye Harmon. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a blender."
"Drat," Richard responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a chortle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."