Gus woke up with a sneer. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a tool belt and a tank top. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the oubliette was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like marbles and charades. His mom was planning to make plenty of pancakes and succotash for everyone. Gus would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the jet black and scarlet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Gus would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pen! He hoped it would be a scarlet pen. His friend Baldwin had said he would give him a tablet computer, and his grandma always gave him cool stuff like the telephone book she gave him last year. Gus could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hailstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his tool belt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the butte. He would have to wear a locket instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his tank top.
He hopped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like baked beans. His mom was standing there with a cheesecloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a pucker.
"Hi Mommy!" Gus replied kindly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pancakes," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra baking soda. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Gus replied wryly. "Do we have the succotash ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his mother replied stealthily. "It only has to heat in microwave for three minutes."
"Okay," Gus replied positively. "I'm gonna go to the oubliette."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some egg salad sandwich 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," Gus responded, as he sat down to his egg salad sandwich. "Let's hang lots of salmon balloons and cover the file cabinet and the washstand with salmon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother warmly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Shawna Snigglefritz. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of tongs."
"For the love of Pete," Gus responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a pout. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."