Franklin woke up with a power fist. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a fur coat and a cowboy hat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the oubliette was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like solitaire and hide and seek. His mom was planning to make plenty of pie a la mode and succotash for everyone. Franklin would try to blow out all twenty-four candles on the golden and aquamarine cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Franklin would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a can of shaving cream! He hoped it would be a speckled can of shaving cream. His friend Dakota had said he would give him a key ring, and his sister-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the cork she gave him last year. Franklin could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a lightning storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his fur coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the backyard. He would have to wear a nose ring instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his cowboy hat.
He sauntered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like bacon frying. His mom was standing there with a bare foot in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a power fist.
"Hi Mommy!" Franklin replied merrily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pie a la mode," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra kidney beans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Franklin replied sharply. "Do we have the succotash ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his mother replied neatly. "It only has to marinate for seventeen minutes."
"Okay," Franklin replied sheepishly. "I'm gonna go to the oubliette."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tofu 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," Franklin responded, as he sat down to his tofu. "Let's hang lots of turquoise balloons and cover the washstand and the china cabinet with red crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother again. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Antonia Targoff. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dish cloth."
"Crap," Franklin responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a wrinkled nose. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."