Zeke woke up with a snarl. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a jerkin and a black armband. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the front porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like baseball and ring around the rosie. His mom was planning to make plenty of dry toast and borscht for everyone. Zeke would try to blow out all twenty-three candles on the sparkly and emerald green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Zeke would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pumpkin! He hoped it would be an ordinary pumpkin. His friend Alf had said he would give him a fishing rod, and his mother-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the Big Gulp she gave him last year. Zeke could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his jerkin. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the treetop. He would have to wear a parka instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his black armband.
He staggered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like mint. His mom was standing there with a spatula in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a cheer.
"Hi Mommy!" Zeke replied roughly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the dry toast," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra canned oysters. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Zeke replied suspiciously. "Do we have the borscht ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his mother replied pitifully. "It only has to melt for eighty minutes."
"Okay," Zeke replied sleepily. "I'm gonna go to the front porch."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Swiss cheese 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," Zeke responded, as he sat down to his Swiss cheese. "Let's hang lots of periwinkle balloons and cover the TV and the nightstand with peach crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother warmly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Virginia Jude. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a bare foot."
"Fiddlesticks," Zeke responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a growl. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."