Thomas woke up with a pout. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a bustier and a watch. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the game room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like charades and badminton. His mom was planning to make plenty of corn on the cob and beef bouillon for everyone. Thomas would try to blow out all fourteen candles on the brown and brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Thomas would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bag of ice! He hoped it would be a peculiar bag of ice. His friend Ichabod had said he would give him a pipe, and his grandpa always gave him cool stuff like the kite she gave him last year. Thomas could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his bustier. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the outback. He would have to wear a burqa instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his watch.
He dashed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like strawberries. His mom was standing there with a corkscrew in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a snort.
"Hi Mommy!" Thomas replied woodenly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the corn on the cob," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra clam juice. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Thomas replied anxiously. "Do we have the beef bouillon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his mother replied hopefully. "It only has to arrange for twenty-three minutes."
"Okay," Thomas replied boldly. "I'm gonna go to the game room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lobster bisque in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the game 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," Thomas responded, as he sat down to his lobster bisque. "Let's hang lots of orange balloons and cover the cushion and the desk with olive green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother hopefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Angie Lyman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a wooden spoon."
"Ho ho," Thomas responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sneeze. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."