Nathan woke up with a wag of the finger. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a floppy hat and a leotard. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the salon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited one of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like checkers and rummy. His mom was planning to make plenty of Froot Loops and chicken gumbo for everyone. Nathan would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the chartreuse and maroon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Nathan would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a crystal ball! He hoped it would be a hollow crystal ball. His friend Ole had said he would give him a box of Kleenex, and his grandma always gave him cool stuff like the bird feeder she gave him last year. Nathan could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his floppy hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the plain. He would have to wear a name tag instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his leotard.
He straggled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like beer. His mom was standing there with a pastry blender in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a caress.
"Hi Mommy!" Nathan replied boisterously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Froot Loops," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra white beans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Nathan replied stupidly. "Do we have the chicken gumbo ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his mother replied slowly. "It only has to toast for twenty-six minutes."
"Okay," Nathan replied unabashedly. "I'm gonna go to the salon."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some dirty rice in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the salon 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," Nathan responded, as he sat down to his dirty rice. "Let's hang lots of red balloons and cover the carpet and the cash register with scarlet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother excitedly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Nicki Marsh. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Aha," Nathan responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a grin. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."