Jason woke up with a grimace. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of shorts and an award medal. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the cage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited one of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like checkers and battleship. His mom was planning to make plenty of egg rolls and cabbage for everyone. Jason would try to blow out all twenty-four candles on the lime-green and periwinkle cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jason would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a can of sardines! He hoped it would be a miniature can of sardines. His friend Butch had said he would give him a garbage can, and his grandpa always gave him cool stuff like the fire hose she gave him last year. Jason 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 pair of shorts. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the beach. He would have to wear a pair of ear muffs instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his award medal.
He tiptoed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like road kill. His mom was standing there with a spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a crow.
"Hi Mommy!" Jason replied joyously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg rolls," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra flour. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jason replied languidly. "Do we have the cabbage ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his mother replied quickly. "It only has to sauté for sixteen minutes."
"Okay," Jason replied stupidly. "I'm gonna go to the cage."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Cheerios 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," Jason responded, as he sat down to his Cheerios. "Let's hang lots of chocolate brown balloons and cover the piano and the dresser with azure crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother unexpectedly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Deborah Nagy. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"In your dreams," Jason responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a cringe. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."