Arnold woke up with a wince. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a maxi skirt and a fedora. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the laundry room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like croquet and blackjack. His mom was planning to make plenty of banana split and biscuits and gravy for everyone. Arnold would try to blow out all eleven candles on the black and ivory cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Arnold would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an arrowhead! He hoped it would be an archaic arrowhead. His friend Lonnie had said he would give him a wrench, and his aunt always gave him cool stuff like the photon torpedo she gave him last year. Arnold could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his maxi skirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountaintop. He would have to wear a sombrero instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his fedora.
He inched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like sautéed onions. His mom was standing there with a dull knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a shout.
"Hi Mommy!" Arnold replied flightily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the banana split," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra onion powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Arnold replied needlessly. "Do we have the biscuits and gravy ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his mother replied despondently. "It only has to deep fry for seventy-seven minutes."
"Okay," Arnold replied slyly. "I'm gonna go to the laundry room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some doughnuts in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the laundry 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," Arnold responded, as he sat down to his doughnuts. "Let's hang lots of khaki balloons and cover the cushion and the display case with tan crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother rapidly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Izzy Bishop. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a food processor."
"Lord be praised," Arnold responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a laugh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."