Garth woke up with an evil eye. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a fedora and a sweatshirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the rec room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like jacks and musical chairs. His mom was planning to make plenty of sweet potatoes and crab rangoon for everyone. Garth would try to blow out all six candles on the black and teal cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Garth would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a paper clip! He hoped it would be a weird paper clip. His friend Doug had said he would give him a baby doll, and his grandmother always gave him cool stuff like the top she gave him last year. Garth could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his fedora. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the island. He would have to wear a set of pink foam curlers instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his sweatshirt.
He capered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like baby powder. His mom was standing there with a spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a wink.
"Hi Mommy!" Garth replied numbly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the sweet potatoes," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra Tabasco sauce. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Garth replied caustically. "Do we have the crab rangoon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his mother replied ruefully. "It only has to age for forty-six minutes."
"Okay," Garth replied grandly. "I'm gonna go to the rec room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cabbage in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the rec room 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," Garth responded, as he sat down to his cabbage. "Let's hang lots of amber balloons and cover the stool and the pedestal with black crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother unnaturally. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Kathy Rexford. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of tongs."
"Durn," Garth responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a jeer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."