Don woke up with a snigger. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a belt and an evening gown. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eight of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like croquet and billiards. His mom was planning to make plenty of roast Cornish game hen and egg salad sandwich for everyone. Don would try to blow out all twenty-one candles on the magenta and mauve cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Don would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a floppy disk! He hoped it would be a greasy floppy disk. His friend Siggy had said he would give him a china doll, and his sister-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the cowbell she gave him last year. Don could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sandstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his belt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the veld. He would have to wear a locket instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his evening gown.
He stalked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like orange blossoms. His mom was standing there with a meat thermometer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a wince.
"Hi Mommy!" Don replied calmly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast Cornish game hen," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra raspberries. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Don replied suavely. "Do we have the egg salad sandwich ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his mother replied confidently. "It only has to freeze for eighty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Don replied courteously. "I'm gonna go to the porch."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some oyster on the half-shell in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the porch 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," Don responded, as he sat down to his oyster on the half-shell. "Let's hang lots of peach balloons and cover the couch and the cushion with sea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother positively. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Rosemary Gilmore. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"Cease and desist," Don responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a hiccup. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."