Mookie woke up with a pound of the chest. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of khakis and a necktie. 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 eight hours playing fun games like Scrabble and charades. His mom was planning to make plenty of candy and shrimp for everyone. Mookie would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the turquoise and jet black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Mookie would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fish bowl! He hoped it would be an autographed fish bowl. His friend Phineas had said he would give him a nail, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the pinwheel she gave him last year. Mookie could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dense fog was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of khakis. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountainside. He would have to wear a winter coat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his necktie.
He sailed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Chanel No. 5. His mom was standing there with an egg cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a sniff.
"Hi Mommy!" Mookie replied carelessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the candy," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra walrus meat. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Mookie replied hopelessly. "Do we have the shrimp ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his mother replied victoriously. "It only has to grill for forty minutes."
"Okay," Mookie replied coldly. "I'm gonna go to the garage."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some catfish stew 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," Mookie responded, as he sat down to his catfish stew. "Let's hang lots of aqua balloons and cover the china cabinet and the computer with ivory crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother reluctantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Julia Holiday. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of chopsticks."
"Wow," Mookie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snarl. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."