Solomon 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 cat suit and a loincloth. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the boiler room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like rummy and leapfrog. His mom was planning to make plenty of burritos and country glazed ham for everyone. Solomon would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the navy blue and lavender cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Solomon would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a tablet computer! He hoped it would be a fuzzy tablet computer. His friend Scotty had said he would give him a bird bath, and his grandma always gave him cool stuff like the toy she gave him last year. Solomon could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his cat suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the seacoast. He would have to wear a wizard's hat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his loincloth.
He crawled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like vinegar. His mom was standing there with a basting brush in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a grimace.
"Hi Mommy!" Solomon replied greedily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the burritos," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra mincemeat. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Solomon replied slowly. "Do we have the country glazed ham ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his mother replied frantically. "It only has to slow cook for seventeen minutes."
"Okay," Solomon replied tearfully. "I'm gonna go to the boiler room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pancakes in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boiler 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," Solomon responded, as he sat down to his pancakes. "Let's hang lots of violet balloons and cover the card table and the bathtub with fuchsia crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother nonchalantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Tess Garvey. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat tenderizer."
"Lord be praised," Solomon responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a laugh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."