Arturo woke up with a giggle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a surgical mask and a pair of shorts. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the hall was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like dominos and jacks. His mom was planning to make plenty of lobster bisque and hors d'oeuvre for everyone. Arturo would try to blow out all twenty-three candles on the olive drab and amber cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Arturo would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Band-aid! He hoped it would be a fluffy Band-aid. His friend Fred had said he would give him a piano, and his grandpa always gave him cool stuff like the bicycle she gave him last year. Arturo could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blizzard was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his surgical mask. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mesa. He would have to wear a gunny sack instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of shorts.
He capered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a hospital. His mom was standing there with a potato masher in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a glare.
"Hi Mommy!" Arturo replied cunningly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lobster bisque," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra celery seed. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Arturo replied charmingly. "Do we have the hors d'oeuvre ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his mother replied dreamily. "It only has to sear for forty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Arturo replied again. "I'm gonna go to the hall."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tortillas in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the hall 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," Arturo responded, as he sat down to his tortillas. "Let's hang lots of sparkly balloons and cover the chair and the toilet with sparkly crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother curiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Giselle Zmarzly. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dull knife."
"There-there," Arturo responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a beam. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."