Eric woke up with a grunt. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of culottes and a robe. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the garage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like Clue and bridge. His mom was planning to make plenty of hors d'oeuvre and potatoes and gravy for everyone. Eric would try to blow out all two candles on the aquamarine and chartreuse cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Eric would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a mousetrap! He hoped it would be a cheap mousetrap. His friend Aiden had said he would give him a necklace, and his mother-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the sponge she gave him last year. Eric could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an earthquake was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of culottes. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the treetop. He would have to wear a cummerbund instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his robe.
He slipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like coffee. His mom was standing there with a cheesecloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a blush.
"Hi Mommy!" Eric replied innocently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hors d'oeuvre," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra heavy cream. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Eric replied boldly. "Do we have the potatoes and gravy ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his mother replied perkily. "It only has to spread into container for eighteen minutes."
"Okay," Eric replied impatiently. "I'm gonna go to the garage."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some duck a l'orange in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the garage 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," Eric responded, as he sat down to his duck a l'orange. "Let's hang lots of red balloons and cover the footstool and the bench with indigo crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother lazily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Zoe Tanaka. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Crud," Eric responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a flutter. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."