Dorian woke up with a roar. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a tutu and a pair of moon boots. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the oubliette was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like Clue and bridge. His mom was planning to make plenty of moo goo gai pan and sauerkraut for everyone. Dorian would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the crimson and pea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Dorian would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a diamond! He hoped it would be a prickly diamond. His friend Christopher had said he would give him a fish bowl, and his sister always gave him cool stuff like the flash drive she gave him last year. Dorian could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sandstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his tutu. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the prairie. He would have to wear a pair of knickers instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of moon boots.
He reeled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pizza. His mom was standing there with a candy thermometer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a sneeze.
"Hi Mommy!" Dorian replied reluctantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the moo goo gai pan," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cayenne pepper. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Dorian replied testily. "Do we have the sauerkraut ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his mother replied excitedly. "It only has to roast for forty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Dorian replied sheepishly. "I'm gonna go to the oubliette."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cookies in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the oubliette 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," Dorian responded, as he sat down to his cookies. "Let's hang lots of sea green balloons and cover the billiard table and the billiard table with lime-green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother softly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Rosemary Fischer. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dull knife."
"Land's sakes," Dorian responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a wag of the finger. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."