Jack woke up with a backward glance. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a helmet and a set of scrubs. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the game room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like seven-up and chess. His mom was planning to make plenty of burritos and scrambled eggs for everyone. Jack would try to blow out all twenty-three candles on the azure and lavender cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jack would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a gun! He hoped it would be a rose gun. His friend Daniel had said he would give him an abacus, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the suitcase she gave him last year. Jack 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 helmet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the trail. He would have to wear an 'I'm with Stupid' shirt instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his set of scrubs.
He paraded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pickles. His mom was standing there with a food processor in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a cringe.
"Hi Mommy!" Jack replied sharply. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the burritos," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra crabmeat. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jack replied surreptitiously. "Do we have the scrambled eggs ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his mother replied vacantly. "It only has to scramble for fifty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Jack replied gleefully. "I'm gonna go to the game room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pretzels in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the game 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," Jack responded, as he sat down to his pretzels. "Let's hang lots of black balloons and cover the floor and the billiard table with chocolate brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother irritably. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Ana Kraft. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a candy thermometer."
"Goodness," Jack responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a furrowed brow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."