Elijah woke up with a gasp. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a gas mask and a jumper. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the garage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like follow the leader and crazy eights. His mom was planning to make plenty of omelet and succotash for everyone. Elijah would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the golden and magenta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Elijah would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a camera! He hoped it would be a hideous camera. His friend Gilbert had said he would give him a bilge pump, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the rose she gave him last year. Elijah could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a driving rain was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his gas mask. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the crime scene. He would have to wear a bib instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his jumper.
He blundered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like buttermilk. His mom was standing there with a chopstick in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with an evil eye.
"Hi Mommy!" Elijah replied mysteriously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the omelet," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cornmeal. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Elijah replied fiercely. "Do we have the succotash ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his mother replied pitifully. "It only has to steam for sixty-five minutes."
"Okay," Elijah replied sorrowfully. "I'm gonna go to the garage."
"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 garage 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," Elijah responded, as he sat down to his pretzels. "Let's hang lots of lavender balloons and cover the settee and the coat rack with emerald green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother thoughtfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Alice Quinlan. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dish cloth."
"Bada bing bada boom," Elijah responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with an evil eye. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."