Rodney woke up with a hiccup. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a tattoo and a bib. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the oubliette was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like Russian roulette and leapfrog. His mom was planning to make plenty of popcorn and smoked salmon for everyone. Rodney would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the turquoise and aqua cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Rodney would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a rubber chicken! He hoped it would be an electric rubber chicken. His friend Yancey had said he would give him a thumb drive, and his mom always gave him cool stuff like the baseball she gave him last year. Rodney could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drought was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his tattoo. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the peninsula. He would have to wear a smartwatch instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bib.
He reeled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cotton candy. His mom was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a jeer.
"Hi Mommy!" Rodney replied resignedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the popcorn," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra half and half. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Rodney replied hungrily. "Do we have the smoked salmon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his mother replied gingerly. "It only has to braise for thirty-three minutes."
"Okay," Rodney replied bitterly. "I'm gonna go to the oubliette."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pumpkin pie 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," Rodney responded, as he sat down to his pumpkin pie. "Let's hang lots of fuchsia balloons and cover the bench and the rug with terra cotta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother bravely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Keiko Ibrahim. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dull knife."
"Kaboom," Rodney responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a flutter. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."