Paul woke up with a snigger. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a bolo tie and a bikini. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the lounge was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like leapfrog and cribbage. His mom was planning to make plenty of egg salad sandwich and scrambled eggs for everyone. Paul would try to blow out all thirty-five candles on the crimson and yellow cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Paul would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hand puppet! He hoped it would be a bronze hand puppet. His friend Mitch had said he would give him a backpack, and his girlfriend always gave him cool stuff like the box of candy she gave him last year. Paul could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his bolo tie. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the badlands area. He would have to wear a few loose rags instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bikini.
He ran downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cheap cologne. His mom was standing there with a dish cloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a flinch.
"Hi Mommy!" Paul replied sternly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg salad sandwich," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra yogurt. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Paul replied unabashedly. "Do we have the scrambled eggs ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his mother replied nimbly. "It only has to marinate for thirty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Paul replied obediently. "I'm gonna go to the lounge."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ham in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the lounge 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," Paul responded, as he sat down to his ham. "Let's hang lots of pea green balloons and cover the mattress and the dining table with olive drab crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother daringly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Kjersten Finegan. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an oven mitt."
"Really," Paul responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a pucker. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."