Gabe woke up with a gasp. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a wig and a pair of glasses. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the oubliette was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like badminton and red light green light. His mom was planning to make plenty of squash blossom soup and blueberry pie for everyone. Gabe would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the camouflage and chartreuse cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Gabe would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a firecracker! He hoped it would be a brightly-colored firecracker. His friend Bobby had said he would give him a cane, and his mentor always gave him cool stuff like the telephone she gave him last year. Gabe could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his wig. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the wasteland. He would have to wear a cloak instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of glasses.
He waded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a wet dog. His mom was standing there with a fork in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a hoot.
"Hi Mommy!" Gabe replied fearlessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the squash blossom soup," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh papaya. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Gabe replied threateningly. "Do we have the blueberry pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his mother replied hungrily. "It only has to freeze for seventy-eight minutes."
"Okay," Gabe replied lovingly. "I'm gonna go to the oubliette."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some bread and butter 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," Gabe responded, as he sat down to his bread and butter. "Let's hang lots of metallic red balloons and cover the hope chest and the catbird seat with beige crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother numbly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Elsa Nussbaum. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a wooden spoon."
"Whoa," Gabe responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snort. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."