Shane 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 beret and a bathrobe. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the guest room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like bridge and baseball. His mom was planning to make plenty of chocolate-covered ants and duck a l'orange for everyone. Shane would try to blow out all twenty-seven candles on the lavender and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Shane would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a teacup! He hoped it would be a valuable teacup. His friend Caleb had said he would give him a feather, and his aunt always gave him cool stuff like the rubber stamp she gave him last year. Shane could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his beret. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the savanna. He would have to wear a sari instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bathrobe.
He marched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like anise. His mom was standing there with a spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a sneeze.
"Hi Mommy!" Shane replied queerly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chocolate-covered ants," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra lime juice. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Shane replied calmly. "Do we have the duck a l'orange ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his mother replied glumly. "It only has to place on serving dish for seventeen minutes."
"Okay," Shane replied solemnly. "I'm gonna go to the guest room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken pot pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the guest 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," Shane responded, as he sat down to his chicken pot pie. "Let's hang lots of pink balloons and cover the ironing board and the file cabinet with pea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother automatically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Bretta Wayman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a turkey baster."
"Righto," Shane responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a shiver. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."