Tracy woke up with a bound. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a poncho and a negligee. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the dungeon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like Parcheesi and blackjack. His mom was planning to make plenty of hamburgers and macaroni and cheese for everyone. Tracy would try to blow out all twenty-three candles on the aquamarine and black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Tracy would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pop bottle! He hoped it would be a decrepit pop bottle. His friend Lars had said he would give him a rose, and his mother always gave him cool stuff like the crutch she gave him last year. Tracy could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his poncho. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the pond. He would have to wear a camisole instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his negligee.
He swaggered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like chocolate. His mom was standing there with a mixing spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a snarl.
"Hi Mommy!" Tracy replied nervously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hamburgers," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra codfish pieces. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Tracy replied recklessly. "Do we have the macaroni and cheese ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his mother replied languidly. "It only has to deep fry for forty-three minutes."
"Okay," Tracy replied repeatedly. "I'm gonna go to the dungeon."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some jambalaya in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dungeon 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," Tracy responded, as he sat down to his jambalaya. "Let's hang lots of lavender balloons and cover the bath mat and the counter with sea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother blissfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Jessi Torres. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat tenderizer."
"Grrrrr," Tracy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snort. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."