Dick 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 ski mask and a coat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the workshop was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited four of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like marbles and seven-up. His mom was planning to make plenty of pie a la mode and duck a l'orange for everyone. Dick would try to blow out all twenty-four candles on the mauve and green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Dick would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a billiard ball! He hoped it would be a modern billiard ball. His friend Matthew had said he would give him a candle, and his fiancée always gave him cool stuff like the pencil she gave him last year. Dick could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blizzard was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his ski mask. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the crime scene. He would have to wear a suit instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his coat.
He scampered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like meatloaf. His mom was standing there with a fork in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a smirk.
"Hi Mommy!" Dick replied wryly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pie a la mode," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra sage. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Dick replied crankily. "Do we have the duck a l'orange ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his mother replied accidentally. "It only has to sauté for eighty minutes."
"Okay," Dick replied glibly. "I'm gonna go to the workshop."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cinnamon toast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the workshop 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," Dick responded, as he sat down to his cinnamon toast. "Let's hang lots of salmon balloons and cover the safe and the bathtub with magenta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother sheepishly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Erin Ibrahim. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"Granular," Dick responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snicker. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."