Miguel woke up with a titter. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a vest and a raincoat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the oubliette was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited four of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like dodge ball and Simon Says. His dad was planning to make plenty of candy and wienerschnitzel for everyone. Miguel would try to blow out all nine candles on the rose and lavender cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Miguel would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a coat check ticket! He hoped it would be an automatic coat check ticket. His friend Marina had said she would give him a microscope, and his girlfriend always gave him cool stuff like the box she gave him last year. Miguel could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pall of doom was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his vest. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the creek. He would have to wear a pair of booties instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his raincoat.
He waded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like gasoline. His dad was standing there with a ladle in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a caress.
"Hi Daddy!" Miguel replied coolly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the candy," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra apple slices. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Miguel replied truculently. "Do we have the wienerschnitzel ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," his father replied cheerfully. "It only has to freeze for two minutes."
"Okay," Miguel replied reluctantly. "I'm gonna go to the oubliette."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fried okra 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 father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Miguel responded, as he sat down to his fried okra. "Let's hang lots of brown balloons and cover the bathtub and the dining table with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father uneasily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Carrie Cannon. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a knife."
"Righto," Miguel responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a gasp. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."