Kitten woke up with a pound of the chest. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a tarboosh and a wedding dress. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the oubliette was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited one of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like badminton and roulette. Her mom was planning to make plenty of waffles and mashed potatoes for everyone. Kitten would try to blow out all twenty-three candles on the aqua and aquamarine cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kitten would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a chamber pot! She hoped it would be a jagged chamber pot. Her friend Britt had said he would give her a cowbell, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the advertisement she gave her last year. Kitten could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dense fog was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her tarboosh. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the pond. She would have to wear a cheerleader's uniform instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her wedding dress.
She slid downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fingernail polish remover. Her mom was standing there with an egg cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a roar.
"Hi Mommy!" Kitten replied cunningly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the waffles," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cottage cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kitten replied sourly. "Do we have the mashed potatoes ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied wildly. "It only has to bake at 450 degrees F for seventy-five minutes."
"Okay," Kitten replied effortlessly. "I'm gonna go to the oubliette."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cabbage 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," Kitten responded, as she sat down to her cabbage. "Let's hang lots of fuchsia balloons and cover the cupboard and the sofa with polka dotted crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother daringly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Nettie Shapiro. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a fork."
"Gosh," Kitten responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with an air kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."