Sean woke up with a snarl. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a tinfoil hat and a helmet. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the atrium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like Russian roulette and Russian roulette. His mom was planning to make plenty of jambalaya and cinnamon toast for everyone. Sean would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the carrot-orange and fuchsia cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Sean would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a stuffed bunny! He hoped it would be a small stuffed bunny. His friend Walter had said he would give him a Barbie doll, and his grandma always gave him cool stuff like the corncob she gave him last year. Sean 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 tinfoil hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the dump. He would have to wear a skeleton costume instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his helmet.
He jogged downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cherry blossoms. His mom was standing there with a basting brush in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a giggle.
"Hi Mommy!" Sean replied carefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the jambalaya," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra Velveeta cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Sean replied caustically. "Do we have the cinnamon toast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," his mother replied demurely. "It only has to steam for eighty-three minutes."
"Okay," Sean replied suddenly. "I'm gonna go to the atrium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some macaroni in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the atrium 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," Sean responded, as he sat down to his macaroni. "Let's hang lots of white balloons and cover the desk and the settee with ivory crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother gleefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Ginger Romano. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Great," Sean responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a jeer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."