Craig woke up with a honk. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a hat and a vest. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like bridge and poker. His mom was planning to make plenty of cinnamon toast and ice cream for everyone. Craig would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the indigo and purple cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Craig would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a flash drive! He hoped it would be a ridiculous flash drive. His friend Allan had said he would give him a Hostess Ding Dong, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the peace pipe she gave him last year. Craig 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 hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the range. He would have to wear a bib instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his vest.
He stormed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like peppermint. His mom was standing there with a pair of chopsticks in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a woof.
"Hi Mommy!" Craig replied testily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cinnamon toast," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra lima beans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Craig replied solemnly. "Do we have the ice cream ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his mother replied dreamily. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for seventy-five minutes."
"Okay," Craig replied warmly. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lasagna in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the bathroom 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," Craig responded, as he sat down to his lasagna. "Let's hang lots of black balloons and cover the umbrella stand and the overstuffed chair with silver crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother unnaturally. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Belle Murphy. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an oven mitt."
"Good gravy," Craig responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a woof. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."