Oliver woke up with a cringe. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a parka and a midi skirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the library was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited four of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Scrabble and solitaire. His mom was planning to make plenty of mulligan stew and strawberry shortcake for everyone. Oliver would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the blue and ivory cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Oliver would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a ticket! He hoped it would be a smelly ticket. His friend Bix had said he would give him a cracker, and his grandmother always gave him cool stuff like the flyswatter she gave him last year. Oliver could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his parka. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the neighborhood. He would have to wear a parka instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his midi skirt.
He tumbled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like peppermint. His mom was standing there with a spatula in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a gasp.
"Hi Mommy!" Oliver replied tearfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mulligan stew," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cucumber. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Oliver replied properly. "Do we have the strawberry shortcake ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his mother replied oddly. "It only has to shake for twenty-two minutes."
"Okay," Oliver replied tenderly. "I'm gonna go to the library."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chopped liver in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the library 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," Oliver responded, as he sat down to his chopped liver. "Let's hang lots of salmon balloons and cover the display case and the chair with indigo crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother ruefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Konstanze Rajashree. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a blender."
"Gosh," Oliver 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."