Bridget woke up with an evil eye. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a beanie and a pair of galoshes. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the oubliette was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eleven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like croquet and dodge ball. Her dad was planning to make plenty of hot dogs and tuna casserole for everyone. Bridget would try to blow out all thirty-five candles on the purple and lavender cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Bridget would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hot potato! She hoped it would be a nice hot potato. Her friend Melanie had said she would give her a teacup, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the ball she gave her last year. Bridget could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her beanie. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the mountain. She would have to wear a bonnet instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of galoshes.
She clambered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a wet dog. Her dad was standing there with an egg cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a raised eyebrow.
"Hi Daddy!" Bridget replied ingeniously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hot dogs," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra corn oil. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Bridget replied stupidly. "Do we have the tuna casserole ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her father replied ruefully. "It only has to boil for sixty-four minutes."
"Okay," Bridget replied hysterically. "I'm gonna go to the oubliette."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some apple pie 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," Bridget responded, as she sat down to her apple pie. "Let's hang lots of beige balloons and cover the bed and the card table with pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father queerly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Carolyn Perry. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric paint mixer."
"Encore," Bridget responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a flush. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."