Penny woke up with a giggle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a fur coat and a corsage. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the oubliette was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like roulette and marbles. Her mom was planning to make plenty of clam chowder and mulligan stew for everyone. Penny would try to blow out all twenty-seven candles on the tan and carrot-orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Penny would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a can of beans! She hoped it would be a clean can of beans. Her friend Conner had said he would give her a hat, and her sister always gave her cool stuff like the pair of headphones she gave her last year. Penny could hardly wait!
She 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. She looked in her closet for her fur coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the canyon. She would have to wear a big red rose instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her corsage.
She struggled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like gingerbread. Her mom was standing there with a meat tenderizer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a twitch.
"Hi Mommy!" Penny replied demurely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the clam chowder," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra potato chips. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Penny replied shyly. "Do we have the mulligan stew ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her mother replied sheepishly. "It only has to marinate for sixty-six minutes."
"Okay," Penny replied speedily. "I'm gonna go to the oubliette."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some doughnuts 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," Penny responded, as she sat down to her doughnuts. "Let's hang lots of burgundy balloons and cover the beanbag chair and the bathtub with scarlet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother properly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Anne Mackintosh. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"Drat," Penny responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a grimace. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."