Morris woke up with a smirk. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a bib and a pair of Reeboks. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the solarium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like Candy Land and blackjack. His dad was planning to make plenty of chicken pot pie and refried beans for everyone. Morris would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the golden and aquamarine cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Morris would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an abacus! He hoped it would be a striped abacus. His friend Shirley had said she would give him a pain pill, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the stuffed bunny she gave him last year. Morris could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his bib. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountainside. He would have to wear a pair of contact lenses instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of Reeboks.
He dashed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like diesel exhaust. His dad was standing there with an ice pick in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with an air kiss.
"Hi Daddy!" Morris replied grudgingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken pot pie," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra mint leaves. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Morris replied valiantly. "Do we have the refried beans ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his father replied woefully. "It only has to simmer for sixty minutes."
"Okay," Morris replied uneasily. "I'm gonna go to the solarium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pumpkin pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the solarium first?" he begged.
"It looks just like it always does," his father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Morris responded, as he sat down to his pumpkin pie. "Let's hang lots of yellow balloons and cover the bookcase and the bathtub with green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father smoothly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Christina Hughes. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"Get out," Morris responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a grimace. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."