Chloe woke up with a raspberry. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a necklace and a cocktail dress. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the oubliette was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like tennis and bridge. Her dad was planning to make plenty of cabbage and wienerschnitzel for everyone. Chloe would try to blow out all twenty-eight candles on the terra cotta and khaki cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Chloe would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a tablet computer! She hoped it would be a synthetic tablet computer. Her friend Edith had said she would give her a cracker, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the fountain pen she gave her last year. Chloe could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a lightning storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her necklace. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the dumpster. She would have to wear a pair of Groucho glasses instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cocktail dress.
She danced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like chicken soup. Her dad was standing there with a slotted spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a power fist.
"Hi Daddy!" Chloe replied fiercely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cabbage," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra chocolate chips. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Chloe replied nervously. "Do we have the wienerschnitzel ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her father replied intensely. "It only has to melt for forty minutes."
"Okay," Chloe replied miserably. "I'm gonna go to the oubliette."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some moo goo gai pan 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 father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Chloe responded, as she sat down to her moo goo gai pan. "Let's hang lots of purple balloons and cover the crib and the counter with aquamarine crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father dreamily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Maureen Downer. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a candy thermometer."
"OMG," Chloe responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a curtsey. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."