Luke woke up with a hug. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of socks and a thong. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like red light green light and old maid. His mom was planning to make plenty of sweet potatoes and pancakes for everyone. Luke would try to blow out all three candles on the scarlet and striped cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Luke would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pickle! He hoped it would be a hideous pickle. His friend Grover had said he would give him a tube of glue, and his dad always gave him cool stuff like the hacksaw she gave him last year. Luke could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of socks. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the backyard. He would have to wear a coat of mail instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his thong.
He darted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like licorice. His mom was standing there with a food processor in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a titter.
"Hi Mommy!" Luke replied defiantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the sweet potatoes," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra mushrooms. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Luke replied nicely. "Do we have the pancakes ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his mother replied solemnly. "It only has to deep fry for seventy-five minutes."
"Okay," Luke replied glibly. "I'm gonna go to the bedroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some dry toast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the bedroom 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," Luke responded, as he sat down to his dry toast. "Let's hang lots of tan balloons and cover the piano and the bathtub with beige crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother daintily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Joanie Dotson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a knife."
"Kaboom," Luke responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a bound. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."