Horst woke up with a glare. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of overalls and a pair of suspenders. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the tool shed was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eleven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like tennis and red light green light. His mom was planning to make plenty of egg rolls and ham for everyone. Horst would try to blow out all ten candles on the turquoise and chocolate brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Horst would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bottle of painkillers! He hoped it would be a waxy bottle of painkillers. His friend Zed had said he would give him a flash drive, and his sister-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the piece of candy she gave him last year. Horst could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of overalls. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the treetop. He would have to wear a suit instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of suspenders.
He made a beeline downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like old books. His mom was standing there with a pastry blender in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a sneeze.
"Hi Mommy!" Horst replied crossly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg rolls," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra pimientos. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Horst replied frantically. "Do we have the ham ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his mother replied sarcastically. "It only has to heat for seventy-three minutes."
"Okay," Horst replied stealthily. "I'm gonna go to the tool shed."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some bonbons in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the tool shed 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," Horst responded, as he sat down to his bonbons. "Let's hang lots of lime-green balloons and cover the workbench and the toilet with khaki crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother merrily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Midge Mohammadian. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a garlic press."
"Aaaw," Horst responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a shrug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."