Kristen woke up with a hug. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a coonskin hat and a cowboy hat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the oubliette was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like Candy Land and hearts. Her dad was planning to make plenty of spaghetti and beans for everyone. Kristen would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the orange and olive green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kristen would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bowling ball! She hoped it would be a greasy bowling ball. Her friend Jen had said she would give her a peanut, and her grandmother always gave her cool stuff like the paperweight she gave her last year. Kristen could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a lightning storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her coonskin hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the ridge. She would have to wear a pair of moccasins instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cowboy hat.
She went downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like popcorn. Her dad was standing there with a potato masher in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a stiff upper lip.
"Hi Daddy!" Kristen replied cautiously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the spaghetti," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra salmon filets. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kristen replied unabashedly. "Do we have the beans ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her father replied truculently. "It only has to roast for fifty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Kristen replied tenderly. "I'm gonna go to the oubliette."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some hot dogs 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 father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Kristen responded, as she sat down to her hot dogs. "Let's hang lots of pea green balloons and cover the bookshelf and the washing machine with chocolate brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father charmingly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Jodene Higgenbottom. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a paring knife."
"Sheesh," Kristen 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."