Noah woke up with a snigger. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a body shirt and a surgical mask. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the den was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like Scrabble and Russian roulette. His mom was planning to make plenty of jambalaya and succotash for everyone. Noah would try to blow out all three candles on the khaki and blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Noah would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a can of beans! He hoped it would be a crisp can of beans. His friend Elmer had said he would give him an etching, and his mother-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the axe she gave him last year. Noah could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his body shirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the badlands area. He would have to wear a pair of trousers instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his surgical mask.
He leapt downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a locker room. His mom was standing there with a meat thermometer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a yawn.
"Hi Mommy!" Noah replied dolefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the jambalaya," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra Jello. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Noah replied sourly. "Do we have the succotash ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his mother replied truculently. "It only has to shake for thirty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Noah replied hastily. "I'm gonna go to the den."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ceviche in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the den 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," Noah responded, as he sat down to his ceviche. "Let's hang lots of magenta balloons and cover the desk and the piano with aquamarine crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother obediently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Ada Belle West. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"Golly," Noah responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a furrowed brow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."