Dean woke up with a face palm. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a poncho and a midi skirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the dungeon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eight of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like musical chairs and chess. His mom was planning to make plenty of sauerkraut and ravioli for everyone. Dean would try to blow out all twelve candles on the blue and violet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Dean would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an oriental vase! He hoped it would be a plastic oriental vase. His friend Paco had said he would give him a cracker, and his sister always gave him cool stuff like the oriental vase she gave him last year. Dean could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his poncho. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the village. He would have to wear a bicycle helmet instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his midi skirt.
He slid downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like hairspray. His mom was standing there with a piece of cheesecloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a honk.
"Hi Mommy!" Dean replied deftly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the sauerkraut," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cream style corn. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Dean replied blissfully. "Do we have the ravioli ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his mother replied softly. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for forty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Dean replied threateningly. "I'm gonna go to the dungeon."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ham in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dungeon 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," Dean responded, as he sat down to his ham. "Let's hang lots of pea green balloons and cover the buffet and the armoire with terra cotta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother obediently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Heidi Everett. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"Crackers," Dean responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a flush. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."