Jesse woke up with a growl. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a suit of armor and a midi skirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the tool shed was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like hide and seek and backgammon. His mom was planning to make plenty of lamb curry and ceviche for everyone. Jesse would try to blow out all fifteen candles on the orange and orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jesse would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a notepad! He hoped it would be an aromatic notepad. His friend Jeremy had said he would give him a helmet, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the towel she gave him last year. Jesse could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his suit of armor. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the landfill. He would have to wear a poodle skirt instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his midi skirt.
He breezed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like marijuana. His mom was standing there with a cookie cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a shout.
"Hi Mommy!" Jesse replied shyly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lamb curry," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra roquefort cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jesse replied sharply. "Do we have the ceviche ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his mother replied sharply. "It only has to mix automatically for thirty-one minutes."
"Okay," Jesse replied reluctantly. "I'm gonna go to the tool shed."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pizza 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," Jesse responded, as he sat down to his pizza. "Let's hang lots of violet balloons and cover the bathtub and the canopy bed with carrot-orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother thankfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Linda Binkley. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a garlic press."
"Great balls of fire," Jesse responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a shrug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."