Horsie woke up with a sniffle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a sport coat and a tank top. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the doghouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like shuffleboard and Cootie. His mom was planning to make plenty of hot dogs and waffles for everyone. Horsie would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the silver and violet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Horsie would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a microphone! He hoped it would be a small microphone. His friend Garrett had said he would give him a brush, and his sister always gave him cool stuff like the hockey puck she gave him last year. Horsie could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pall of doom was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his sport coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the cliff. He would have to wear a miniskirt instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his tank top.
He proceeded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like onions. His mom was standing there with a spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with an air kiss.
"Hi Mommy!" Horsie replied fondly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hot dogs," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra kiwis, peeled and sliced. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Horsie replied unnaturally. "Do we have the waffles ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his mother replied quickly. "It only has to melt for sixty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Horsie replied caustically. "I'm gonna go to the doghouse."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some strawberry shortcake in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the doghouse 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," Horsie responded, as he sat down to his strawberry shortcake. "Let's hang lots of chocolate brown balloons and cover the hammock and the dresser with lavender crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother lamely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Mary Edwards. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of chopsticks."
"Help," Horsie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a pout. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."