Melanie woke up with a shout. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a skirt and a pair of glasses. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the oubliette was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like Scrabble and dodge ball. Her mom was planning to make plenty of pancakes and pot roast for everyone. Melanie would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the fuchsia and jet black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Melanie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a mousetrap! She hoped it would be a rare mousetrap. Her friend Nils had said he would give her a cork, and her grandmother always gave her cool stuff like the bat she gave her last year. Melanie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sandstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her skirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the rainforest. She would have to wear a babushka instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of glasses.
She waded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Christian Dior. Her mom was standing there with a pair of chopsticks in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a guffaw.
"Hi Mommy!" Melanie replied quietly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pancakes," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra mustard seed. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Melanie replied victoriously. "Do we have the pot roast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied carelessly. "It only has to spoon into container for fifty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Melanie replied courteously. "I'm gonna go to the oubliette."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some macaroni and cheese 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," Melanie responded, as she sat down to her macaroni and cheese. "Let's hang lots of lime-green balloons and cover the dishwasher and the washing machine with amber crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother tearfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Jordan Ivanov. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"My gosh," Melanie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a face palm. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."