Cornelius 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 tinfoil hat and a pair of ear muffs. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the lounge was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like hide and seek and volleyball. His mom was planning to make plenty of oatmeal and lobster bisque for everyone. Cornelius would try to blow out all twenty-seven candles on the aqua and yellow cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Cornelius would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pumpkin! He hoped it would be a striking pumpkin. His friend Peter had said he would give him a corsage, and his sister always gave him cool stuff like the clock she gave him last year. Cornelius could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his tinfoil hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the circus tent. He would have to wear a pair of shin guards instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of ear muffs.
He breezed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rose petals. His mom was standing there with a paring knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a coo.
"Hi Mommy!" Cornelius replied deftly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the oatmeal," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra white wine. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Cornelius replied fervently. "Do we have the lobster bisque ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his mother replied urgently. "It only has to shake for sixty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Cornelius replied fondly. "I'm gonna go to the lounge."
"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 lounge 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," Cornelius responded, as he sat down to his chocolate-covered ants. "Let's hang lots of indigo balloons and cover the card table and the display case with tan crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother timidly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Candy Richards. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an oven mitt."
"Ahoy," Cornelius responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a raspberry. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."