Jen woke up with a snarl. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a stovepipe hat and a rain coat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the oubliette was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like Parcheesi and Russian roulette. Her mom was planning to make plenty of mashed potatoes and lobster for everyone. Jen would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the maroon and sea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jen would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a rubber chicken! She hoped it would be an autographed rubber chicken. Her friend Brad had said he would give her a cardboard box, and her dad always gave her cool stuff like the can of shaving cream she gave her last year. Jen could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hailstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her stovepipe hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the dumpster. She would have to wear a sweater instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her rain coat.
She sashayed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like maple syrup. Her mom was standing there with a slotted spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a honk.
"Hi Mommy!" Jen replied peevishly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mashed potatoes," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra sauerkraut. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jen replied hastily. "Do we have the lobster ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her mother replied merrily. "It only has to freeze for twenty-five minutes."
"Okay," Jen replied temperamentally. "I'm gonna go to the oubliette."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken pot pie 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," Jen responded, as she sat down to her chicken pot pie. "Let's hang lots of metallic red balloons and cover the ping-pong table and the wine rack with chartreuse crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother cunningly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Lois Fink. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spatula."
"Fudge," Jen responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a smirk. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."