Jacob woke up with a hoot. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a space suit and a mask. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the cage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Mother May I and old maid. His mom was planning to make plenty of roast beef and borscht for everyone. Jacob would try to blow out all twenty-eight candles on the fuchsia and lavender cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jacob would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bowl! He hoped it would be a curved bowl. His friend Knuckles had said he would give him a pepper grinder, and his mother-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the cream puff she gave him last year. Jacob could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his space suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the path. He would have to wear a scarf instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his mask.
He waddled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like hot cocoa. His mom was standing there with a blender in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a raspberry.
"Hi Mommy!" Jacob replied cautiously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast beef," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra marshmallows. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jacob replied bitterly. "Do we have the borscht ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his mother replied truculently. "It only has to spoon into container for seventeen minutes."
"Okay," Jacob replied urgently. "I'm gonna go to the cage."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cookies in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the cage 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," Jacob responded, as he sat down to his cookies. "Let's hang lots of purple balloons and cover the rug and the workbench with lavender crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother dubiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Roberta Bianchi. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a wooden spoon."
"Shucks," Jacob responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a raised eyebrow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."