Kellen woke up with a wince. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a mortarboard and a vest. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the library was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited sixteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like red rover and crazy eights. His mom was planning to make plenty of tofu and crumb cake for everyone. Kellen would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the pea green and mauve cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kellen would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a statue! He hoped it would be a stolen statue. His friend Tex had said he would give him a spittoon, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the coin she gave him last year. Kellen could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a thunderstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his mortarboard. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the treetop. He would have to wear a gown instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his vest.
He galumphed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like moldy leftovers. His mom was standing there with a whisk in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a pout.
"Hi Mommy!" Kellen replied thoughtfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tofu," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra capers. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kellen replied caustically. "Do we have the crumb cake ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his mother replied suddenly. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for nineteen minutes."
"Okay," Kellen replied haughtily. "I'm gonna go to the library."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chocolate-covered ants in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the library 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," Kellen responded, as he sat down to his chocolate-covered ants. "Let's hang lots of tan balloons and cover the catbird seat and the settee with tan crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother suddenly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Amanda Yastremski. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric paint mixer."
"Poppycock," Kellen responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sneer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."