Walter woke up with a grin. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a jerkin and a shirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the rec room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like marbles and dodge ball. His mom was planning to make plenty of borscht and mushroom quiche for everyone. Walter would try to blow out all two candles on the jet black and periwinkle cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Walter would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bottle of perfume! He hoped it would be a leather bottle of perfume. His friend Matthew had said he would give him an amulet, and his aunt always gave him cool stuff like the potato she gave him last year. Walter could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a thunderstorm 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 hillside. He would have to wear a blanket instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his shirt.
He dashed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like moldy leftovers. His mom was standing there with a potato peeler in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a roar.
"Hi Mommy!" Walter replied merrily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the borscht," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra roast beef. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Walter replied joyously. "Do we have the mushroom quiche ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his mother replied energetically. "It only has to slow cook for fifty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Walter replied noisily. "I'm gonna go to the rec room."
"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 rec room 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," Walter responded, as he sat down to his beef bouillon. "Let's hang lots of crimson balloons and cover the stairway and the futon with polka dotted crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother positively. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Celeste Gardner. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a chopstick."
"Maybe," Walter responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sigh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."