Lear 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 flour sack and a pair of gloves. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the lounge was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Monopoly and Simon Says. His mom was planning to make plenty of sushi and moo goo gai pan for everyone. Lear would try to blow out all three candles on the olive drab and sea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lear would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a grease gun! He hoped it would be a prickly grease gun. His friend André had said he would give him a floppy hat, and his wife always gave him cool stuff like the water bottle she gave him last year. Lear could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a snowstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his flour sack. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the landfill. He would have to wear a turtleneck instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of gloves.
He scurried downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cigars. His mom was standing there with a melon baller in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a raised eyebrow.
"Hi Mommy!" Lear replied coldly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the sushi," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra oat bran. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lear replied demurely. "Do we have the moo goo gai pan ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his mother replied crazily. "It only has to mix breathlessly for sixty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Lear replied numbly. "I'm gonna go to the lounge."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ramen noodles 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," Lear responded, as he sat down to his ramen noodles. "Let's hang lots of sea green balloons and cover the bath mat and the pool table with yellow crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother clumsily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Kaylee Tiller. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a strainer."
"Pish posh," Lear responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a coo. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."