Garth woke up with a hoot. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a jumpsuit and a gladiator helmet. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the salon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like chess and roulette. His mom was planning to make plenty of blueberry pie and fried chicken for everyone. Garth would try to blow out all nine candles on the pea green and chocolate brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Garth would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fork! He hoped it would be a fancy fork. His friend Jeff had said he would give him a stick of gum, and his girlfriend always gave him cool stuff like the necklace she gave him last year. Garth could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his jumpsuit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the jungle. He would have to wear a pocket watch instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his gladiator helmet.
He trotted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like whiskey. His mom was standing there with a sharp knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a wince.
"Hi Mommy!" Garth replied again. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the blueberry pie," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra poppy seeds. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Garth replied frantically. "Do we have the fried chicken ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his mother replied narrowly. "It only has to allow to rise in warm place for several hours for four minutes."
"Okay," Garth replied fervently. "I'm gonna go to the salon."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pecan pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the salon 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," Garth responded, as he sat down to his pecan pie. "Let's hang lots of purple balloons and cover the water bed and the card table with olive green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother curiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Martina Tucker. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a turkey baster."
"I'm sure," Garth responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a frown. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."