Harley woke up with a woof. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of galoshes and a pair of ear muffs. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the rec room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like leapfrog and Russian roulette. His mom was planning to make plenty of spaghetti and tortillas for everyone. Harley would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the blue and aqua cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Harley would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a knitting needle! He hoped it would be an expensive knitting needle. His friend Karl had said he would give him a gun, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the toilet plunger she gave him last year. Harley could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of galoshes. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mesa. He would have to wear a fez instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of ear muffs.
He blundered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Christian Dior. His mom was standing there with a pastry blender in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a cackle.
"Hi Mommy!" Harley replied vigorously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the spaghetti," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra curry powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Harley replied properly. "Do we have the tortillas ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his mother replied surreptitiously. "It only has to smoke for forty-six minutes."
"Okay," Harley replied gratefully. "I'm gonna go to the rec room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some sweet potatoes in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the rec 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," Harley responded, as he sat down to his sweet potatoes. "Let's hang lots of khaki balloons and cover the buffet and the table with ivory crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother breathlessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Geraldine Prescott. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat thermometer."
"Really," Harley responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a twitch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."