Fabien woke up with a curtsey. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a gladiator helmet and a cape. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the oubliette was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like musical chairs and treasure hunt. His dad was planning to make plenty of oatmeal and cinnamon toast for everyone. Fabien would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the carrot-orange and metallic red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Fabien would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a telephone! He hoped it would be a woven telephone. His friend Norma Jean had said she would give him a paperclip, and his sister-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the cookie she gave him last year. Fabien could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an earthquake was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his gladiator helmet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the meadow. He would have to wear a bolo tie instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his cape.
He slipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like ginger. His dad was standing there with an ice pick in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a flush.
"Hi Daddy!" Fabien replied impatiently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the oatmeal," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra nutmeg. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Fabien replied positively. "Do we have the cinnamon toast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his father replied peevishly. "It only has to melt for nineteen minutes."
"Okay," Fabien replied gracefully. "I'm gonna go to the oubliette."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some jambalaya 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," Fabien responded, as he sat down to his jambalaya. "Let's hang lots of yellow balloons and cover the ironing board and the washing machine with camouflage crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father courageously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Francene Tubman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a mixing spoon."
"Crap," Fabien responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a guffaw. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."