Mao woke up with a hiccup. 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 mortarboard. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the dining room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like golf and Mother May I. His mom was planning to make plenty of cookies and oyster on the half-shell for everyone. Mao would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the yellow and pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Mao would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cupcake! He hoped it would be a disgusting cupcake. His friend Paco had said he would give him a pail, and his mommy always gave him cool stuff like the candy cane she gave him last year. Mao could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a windstorm 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 country meadow. He would have to wear a coat of mail instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his mortarboard.
He scurried downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like apple pie. His mom was standing there with a spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a coo.
"Hi Mommy!" Mao replied stealthily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cookies," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra potatoes. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Mao replied despondently. "Do we have the oyster on the half-shell ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his mother replied speedily. "It only has to braise for sixty-two minutes."
"Okay," Mao replied openly. "I'm gonna go to the dining room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tofu in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dining 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," Mao responded, as he sat down to his tofu. "Let's hang lots of camouflage balloons and cover the filing cabinet and the nightstand with golden crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother bitterly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Tess Pickett. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cheesecloth."
"Holy cats," Mao responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a face palm. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."