- Perk up, Shmoopers, because Billy has decided that he likes his diorama again. Actually he kind of loves it. He's been checking it out all day, and with a wee bit of time, he's realized just how cool his creation really is.
- That night, Billy spreads his good cheer to his dad. After they say goodnight, Billy has a great idea for his dad's next art project—and since they were working on dioramas all day, you just know he's got to be thinking about dioramas. Apparently Papa has a bunch of cigar boxes that Billy figures he could use to make dioramas in. Papa seems seriously intrigued by the idea.
- The next day, it's Sal who's got good cheer coming out of her ears. And that's because she loves glitter like nobody's business and it's ended up all over the table and floor after the diorama project. This little lady thinks it's fairy dust, which Billy knows is just cuckoo.
- So Billy enjoys his breakfast before school while Sal gushes about glitter. And the next thing you know, Billy sees Sal pouring some of the glitter from her diorama into his, making his bat cave all sparkly. Um, that's really not cool, Sal.
- Of course Billy is angry as can be, but luckily Papa has some ideas for getting rid of the glitter, so they get to work:
- Papa's Idea One: Tapping the diorama over the trash. That only sort of works.
- Papa's Idea Two: Using a blow dryer to get rid of the glitter. A bunch comes off the hanging bat, but there's tons of glitter everywhere else in the cave. Now Billy is getting desperate.
- Papa's Idea Three: Making that glitter into something good. Billy might not like the glitter at first, but then Papa explains that caves can have minerals in them, like mica, that sparkle a ton. Looked at this way, the horrible glitter is actually something pretty cool.
- So it's great and all that Billy's diorama looks good, but now he's late for school. His dad drives him, though, and he makes it just in the nick of time. Phew.
- Since everything is hunky dory, this seems like just the right time for Emma to make Billy feel like rotten eggs. When she hears Billy say "Thank you, Papa!" to his dad, she tells him that "Papa" sounds seriously "babyish" (2.3.75, 78). Bummer.