Cheng woke up with a snicker. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of overalls and a diamond necklace. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the garage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like volleyball and shuffleboard. His mom was planning to make plenty of mulligan stew and lime sherbet for everyone. Cheng would try to blow out all twenty-seven candles on the sparkly and sea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Cheng would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a crayon! He hoped it would be a stuffed crayon. His friend Bub had said he would give him a key ring, and his mother always gave him cool stuff like the toothbrush she gave him last year. Cheng could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a windstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of overalls. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the stream. He would have to wear a parka instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his diamond necklace.
He hopped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like marijuana. His mom was standing there with an ice pick in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a gurgle.
"Hi Mommy!" Cheng replied nimbly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mulligan stew," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra asparagus. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Cheng replied doubtfully. "Do we have the lime sherbet ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his mother replied sternly. "It only has to arrange for ninety minutes."
"Okay," Cheng replied demurely. "I'm gonna go to the garage."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken gumbo in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the garage 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," Cheng responded, as he sat down to his chicken gumbo. "Let's hang lots of navy blue balloons and cover the TV and the buffet with magenta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother wildly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Helga Vigil. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat tenderizer."
"Say what," Cheng responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a crow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."