Jacqueline woke up with a honk. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a gown and a bridal gown. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the oubliette was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like golf and checkers. Her mom was planning to make plenty of cherries jubilee and catfish stew for everyone. Jacqueline would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the azure and golden cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jacqueline would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a banana! She hoped it would be a new banana. Her friend Geoffrey had said he would give her a chamber pot, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the bag of popcorn she gave her last year. Jacqueline could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pall of doom was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her gown. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the lagoon. She would have to wear a pair of UGGs instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bridal gown.
She bounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like bacon frying. Her mom was standing there with an ice pick in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a fist bump.
"Hi Mommy!" Jacqueline replied deftly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cherries jubilee," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra eggs. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jacqueline replied offhandedly. "Do we have the catfish stew ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied firmly. "It only has to age for fifteen minutes."
"Okay," Jacqueline replied recklessly. "I'm gonna go to the oubliette."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some egg drop soup in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the oubliette first?" she begged.
"It looks just like it always does," her mother replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Jacqueline responded, as she sat down to her egg drop soup. "Let's hang lots of camouflage balloons and cover the chair and the nightstand with sparkly crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother diligently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Tanya DeMille. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Gawwwleeee," Jacqueline responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a death glare. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."