Martin woke up with a shout. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of sweatpants and a set of camo fatigues. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the family room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like marbles and hearts. His mom was planning to make plenty of fish and chips and strawberry shortcake for everyone. Martin would try to blow out all six candles on the pink and azure cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Martin would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an urn! He hoped it would be a mysterious urn. His friend Armand had said he would give him a billiard ball, and his grandmother always gave him cool stuff like the church key she gave him last year. Martin could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a tornado was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of sweatpants. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the beach. He would have to wear a maxi skirt instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his set of camo fatigues.
He darted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like chocolate cake. His mom was standing there with a strainer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a gurgle.
"Hi Mommy!" Martin replied primly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fish and chips," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh parsley. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Martin replied ferociously. "Do we have the strawberry shortcake ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his mother replied resignedly. "It only has to broil for twelve minutes."
"Okay," Martin replied tensely. "I'm gonna go to the family room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some mulligan stew in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the family room 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," Martin responded, as he sat down to his mulligan stew. "Let's hang lots of pea green balloons and cover the floor and the chair with ivory crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother languidly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Stormy Griffin. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Bada bing bada boom," Martin responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a gurgle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."