Millicent woke up with a pucker. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a gorilla suit and a bicycle helmet. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the oubliette was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited sixteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like shuffleboard and Mother May I. His mom was planning to make plenty of hors d'oeuvre and apple pie for everyone. Millicent would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the sea green and beige cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Millicent would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pencil sharpener! He hoped it would be a slimy pencil sharpener. His friend Romeo had said he would give him a cowbell, and his dad always gave him cool stuff like the teapot she gave him last year. Millicent could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his gorilla suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the butte. He would have to wear a cloak instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bicycle helmet.
He crept downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like smoke. His mom was standing there with a whisk in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a smirk.
"Hi Mommy!" Millicent replied solemnly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hors d'oeuvre," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra sweet pickle relish. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Millicent replied swiftly. "Do we have the apple pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his mother replied unexpectedly. "It only has to grill for fifty-four minutes."
"Okay," Millicent replied swiftly. "I'm gonna go to the oubliette."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cookies 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," Millicent responded, as he sat down to his cookies. "Let's hang lots of khaki balloons and cover the hamper and the TV with brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother kindly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Henrietta Giordano. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pastry blender."
"Thanks for nothing," Millicent responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a coo. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."