Beauford woke up with a dope slap. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a flour sack and a beehive. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the conservatory was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited one of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like Snakes and Ladders and Scrabble. His mom was planning to make plenty of brownies and hors d'oeuvre for everyone. Beauford would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the white and green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Beauford would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a coupon! He hoped it would be a fresh coupon. His friend Joel had said he would give him a cotton ball, and his dad always gave him cool stuff like the necklace she gave him last year. Beauford could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his flour sack. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the forest. He would have to wear a pair of culottes instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his beehive.
He zoomed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a steakhouse. His mom was standing there with a melon baller in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a snigger.
"Hi Mommy!" Beauford replied quickly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the brownies," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra parsnips. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Beauford replied woodenly. "Do we have the hors d'oeuvre ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his mother replied glibly. "It only has to bake at 450 degrees F for twenty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Beauford replied automatically. "I'm gonna go to the conservatory."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some egg drop soup in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the conservatory 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," Beauford responded, as he sat down to his egg drop soup. "Let's hang lots of sparkly balloons and cover the hammock and the workbench with chartreuse crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother tearfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Meredith Niebels. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a blender."
"Gads," Beauford responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a raised eyebrow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."