Conner woke up with a belly laugh. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a dress and a visor. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Rummy and jacks. His mom was planning to make plenty of ceviche and roast beef for everyone. Conner would try to blow out all twenty-four candles on the yellow and violet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Conner would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a chess set! He hoped it would be a ridiculous chess set. His friend Cory had said he would give him a pair of knitting needles, and his girlfriend always gave him cool stuff like the tissue she gave him last year. Conner could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drizzle was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his dress. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the cave. He would have to wear a maxi skirt instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his visor.
He marched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like chocolate cake. His mom was standing there with a wooden spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a shiver.
"Hi Mommy!" Conner replied solemnly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ceviche," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra parsnips. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Conner replied languidly. "Do we have the roast beef ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his mother replied sorrowfully. "It only has to heat for eighty-six minutes."
"Okay," Conner replied courageously. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cinnamon toast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the linen closet 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," Conner responded, as he sat down to his cinnamon toast. "Let's hang lots of jet black balloons and cover the billiard table and the bookcase with turquoise crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother valiantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Jane Ulster. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a piece of cheesecloth."
"Boohoo," Conner responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a honk. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."