Gabriel woke up with a sniffle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a beret and a stovepipe hat. 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 jump rope and old maid. His dad was planning to make plenty of Cheerios and oyster on the half-shell for everyone. Gabriel would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the green and burgundy cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Gabriel would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a spider! He hoped it would be an ornate spider. His friend Rosemary had said she would give him a fishing pole, and his friend always gave him cool stuff like the Lego set she gave him last year. Gabriel could hardly wait!
He 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. He looked in his closet for his beret. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the battlefield. He would have to wear a pair of false eyelashes instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his stovepipe hat.
He jumped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like carnations. His dad was standing there with a turkey baster in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a sigh.
"Hi Daddy!" Gabriel replied ruefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Cheerios," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sardines. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Gabriel replied wryly. "Do we have the oyster on the half-shell ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his father replied victoriously. "It only has to simmer for twenty-five minutes."
"Okay," Gabriel replied confidently. "I'm gonna go to the oubliette."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast turkey 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," Gabriel responded, as he sat down to his roast turkey. "Let's hang lots of salmon balloons and cover the windowsill and the fainting couch with polka dotted crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father woefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Lori Dolman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a turkey baster."
"Boy howdy," Gabriel responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a pout. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."