Barnabas woke up with a pucker. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a false beard and a name tag. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the dining room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like blackjack and marbles. His mom was planning to make plenty of fried eggs and brownies for everyone. Barnabas would try to blow out all five candles on the crimson and polka dotted cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Barnabas would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a model airplane! He hoped it would be a gooey model airplane. His friend Edmond had said he would give him a paintbrush, and his mother-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the teddy bear she gave him last year. Barnabas could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his false beard. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the oasis. He would have to wear a pair of shorts instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his name tag.
He paraded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like bacon frying. His mom was standing there with an ice pick in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a pucker.
"Hi Mommy!" Barnabas replied cruelly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fried eggs," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra baker's chocolate. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Barnabas replied gratefully. "Do we have the brownies ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his mother replied anxiously. "It only has to sauté for eleven minutes."
"Okay," Barnabas replied strangely. "I'm gonna go to the dining room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some macaroni 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," Barnabas responded, as he sat down to his macaroni. "Let's hang lots of maroon balloons and cover the wine rack and the recliner with green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother shakily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Melkadas Sugarbaker. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Doggone," Barnabas responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a hoot. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."