Clem woke up with a pucker. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a cardigan and a flour sack. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like Russian roulette and checkers. His mom was planning to make plenty of tuna casserole and falafel for everyone. Clem would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the pink and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Clem would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hand puppet! He hoped it would be a ridged hand puppet. His friend Harold had said he would give him a stuffed owl, and his dad always gave him cool stuff like the bird bath she gave him last year. Clem could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his cardigan. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the dumpster. He would have to wear a business suit instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his flour sack.
He tore downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fried chicken. His mom was standing there with a chopstick in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a yawn.
"Hi Mommy!" Clem replied valiantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tuna casserole," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra red lentils. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Clem replied gratefully. "Do we have the falafel ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his mother replied frantically. "It only has to place on serving dish for eighty-two minutes."
"Okay," Clem replied firmly. "I'm gonna go to the porch."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some sweet potatoes in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the porch 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," Clem responded, as he sat down to his sweet potatoes. "Let's hang lots of periwinkle balloons and cover the hamper and the bunk bed with indigo crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother steadily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Patricia Proctor. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a knife."
"Oh well," Clem responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a raised eyebrow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."