Anton 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 an armband and a business suit. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the tool shed was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like doctor and red light green light. His mom was planning to make plenty of dry toast and tortillas for everyone. Anton would try to blow out all twenty-four candles on the brilliant orange and navy blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Anton would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an etching! He hoped it would be a cotton etching. His friend Sanjay had said he would give him a china doll, and his girlfriend always gave him cool stuff like the pop bottle she gave him last year. Anton could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his armband. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the plain. He would have to wear a pair of trousers instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his business suit.
He tiptoed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pumpkin pie. His mom was standing there with a blender in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a smirk.
"Hi Mommy!" Anton replied suspiciously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the dry toast," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra pitted black olives. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Anton replied gingerly. "Do we have the tortillas ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his mother replied grudgingly. "It only has to fry stupidly in crude skillet for seventy-seven minutes."
"Okay," Anton replied charmingly. "I'm gonna go to the tool shed."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some biscuits and gravy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the tool shed 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," Anton responded, as he sat down to his biscuits and gravy. "Let's hang lots of lavender balloons and cover the pillow and the hatstand with olive green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother surreptitiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Sylvia Roberts. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an oven mitt."
"Duh," Anton responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a bow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."