Jake woke up with a tear. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a gunny sack and a blanket. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the master bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like Simon Says and golf. His mom was planning to make plenty of oyster on the half-shell and ramen noodles for everyone. Jake would try to blow out all ten candles on the green and beige cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jake would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bottle of painkillers! He hoped it would be a striped bottle of painkillers. His friend Vernon had said he would give him a cactus plant, and his mentor always gave him cool stuff like the balloon she gave him last year. Jake could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his gunny 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 Crocs instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his blanket.
He paraded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like freshly cut grass. His mom was standing there with a paring knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a guffaw.
"Hi Mommy!" Jake replied elatedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the oyster on the half-shell," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra boneless chicken breast. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jake replied oddly. "Do we have the ramen noodles ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," his mother replied trustingly. "It only has to blend for sixty-one minutes."
"Okay," Jake replied valiantly. "I'm gonna go to the master bedroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cabbage rolls in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the master bedroom 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," Jake responded, as he sat down to his cabbage rolls. "Let's hang lots of periwinkle balloons and cover the armoire and the nightstand with golden crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother rapidly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Christine Panzer. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a food processor."
"Puppy biscuits," Jake responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a stiff upper lip. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."