Cornelius woke up with a snuffle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a bodysuit and a hearing aid. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the master bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like treasure hunt and poker. His mom was planning to make plenty of macaroni and cheese and dry toast for everyone. Cornelius would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the lime-green and beige cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Cornelius would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cowbell! He hoped it would be a slimy cowbell. His friend Juan had said he would give him a pepper grinder, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the camera she gave him last year. Cornelius 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 bodysuit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the gulch. He would have to wear a corset instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his hearing aid.
He skipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cheap cologne. His mom was standing there with a knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a curtsey.
"Hi Mommy!" Cornelius replied miserably. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the macaroni and cheese," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh mushrooms. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Cornelius replied vacantly. "Do we have the dry toast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his mother replied confidently. "It only has to scramble for two minutes."
"Okay," Cornelius replied victoriously. "I'm gonna go to the master bedroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast turkey in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the master 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," Cornelius responded, as he sat down to his roast turkey. "Let's hang lots of peach balloons and cover the card table and the bathtub with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother tensely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Kathryn Jetson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a melon baller."
"Eek," Cornelius responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a frown. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."