Del woke up with a bound. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a burqa and a bridal gown. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the den was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like poker and roulette. His mom was planning to make plenty of refried beans and egg drop soup for everyone. Del would try to blow out all ten candles on the terra cotta and white cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Del would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a spinning wheel! He hoped it would be a ruined spinning wheel. His friend Kenny had said he would give him an ashtray, and his girlfriend always gave him cool stuff like the paper airplane she gave him last year. Del could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an earthquake was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his burqa. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the plain. He would have to wear a party hat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bridal gown.
He ambled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like black pepper. His mom was standing there with a potato peeler in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a cheer.
"Hi Mommy!" Del replied hungrily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the refried beans," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra powdered sugar. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Del replied sarcastically. "Do we have the egg drop soup ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his mother replied thoughtfully. "It only has to whirl for thirteen minutes."
"Okay," Del replied lightly. "I'm gonna go to the den."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ceviche in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the den 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," Del responded, as he sat down to his ceviche. "Let's hang lots of forest green balloons and cover the buffet and the beanbag chair with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother glibly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Madeline Prentice. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat thermometer."
"Stinkers," Del responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a giggle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."