Ollie woke up with a pound of the chest. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a gunny sack and a dress. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the ballroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like battleship and follow the leader. His mom was planning to make plenty of Swiss cheese and mushroom quiche for everyone. Ollie would try to blow out all twenty-six candles on the navy blue and olive drab cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ollie would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a crate! He hoped it would be a burned crate. His friend Noah had said he would give him a teacup, and his fiancée always gave him cool stuff like the iPod she gave him last year. Ollie could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his gunny sack. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the cliff. He would have to wear a gunny sack instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his dress.
He staggered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like farts. His mom was standing there with a melon baller in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a grimace.
"Hi Mommy!" Ollie replied thoughtfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Swiss cheese," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra parsnips. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ollie replied positively. "Do we have the mushroom quiche ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his mother replied ferociously. "It only has to allow to rise in warm place for several hours for forty-six minutes."
"Okay," Ollie replied brightly. "I'm gonna go to the ballroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lobster bisque in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the ballroom 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," Ollie responded, as he sat down to his lobster bisque. "Let's hang lots of turquoise balloons and cover the casket and the china hutch with green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother quietly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Tamara Badwell. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a sharp knife."
"Holy cats," Ollie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a curtsey. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."