Gunther woke up with a dope slap. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a floppy hat and a gunny sack. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited four of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Mother May I and seven-up. His mom was planning to make plenty of pumpkin pie and fried chicken for everyone. Gunther would try to blow out all five candles on the forest green and sparkly cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Gunther would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a blank check! He hoped it would be a primitive blank check. His friend Lonnie had said he would give him a spittoon, and his grandmother always gave him cool stuff like the Kindle she gave him last year. Gunther could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his floppy hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the marsh. He would have to wear a tank top instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his gunny sack.
He hobbled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like wood. His mom was standing there with a sharp knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a titter.
"Hi Mommy!" Gunther replied hysterically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pumpkin pie," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra corn syrup. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Gunther replied warmly. "Do we have the fried chicken ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," his mother replied joyously. "It only has to deep fry for thirty-five minutes."
"Okay," Gunther replied hopelessly. "I'm gonna go to the bedroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some beef bouillon in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the bedroom 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," Gunther responded, as he sat down to his beef bouillon. "Let's hang lots of teal balloons and cover the fainting couch and the coffee table with golden crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother zestily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Ling LaSalle. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an oven mitt."
"Scurvy dog," Gunther responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a wince. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."