Bernadette woke up with a flush. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a cheerleader's uniform and a bandana. 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 seven hours playing fun games like pool and Cootie. Her dad was planning to make plenty of pecan pie and catfish stew for everyone. Bernadette would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the maroon and sparkly cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Bernadette would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a paper bag! She hoped it would be a speckled paper bag. Her friend Marilyn had said she would give her a piggy bank, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the cigarette lighter she gave her last year. Bernadette could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dense fog was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her cheerleader's uniform. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the lakeside. She would have to wear a pair of cycling shorts instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bandana.
She waltzed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fingernail polish remover. Her dad was standing there with a foot in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with an air kiss.
"Hi Daddy!" Bernadette replied fondly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pecan pie," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra diced pineapple. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Bernadette replied fervently. "Do we have the catfish stew ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her father replied coolly. "It only has to grill for thirty-five minutes."
"Okay," Bernadette replied quickly. "I'm gonna go to the oubliette."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ramen noodles 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," Bernadette responded, as she sat down to her ramen noodles. "Let's hang lots of blue balloons and cover the dishwasher and the coffee table with metallic red crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father timidly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Rebecca Niebels. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a knife."
"Silence," Bernadette responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a flinch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."