Karen's Birthday

  Everyone was being so nice. I could tell they were sorry that my feelings had been hurt. By the time I went home I had three paper flowers, a package of stickers, a brand-new eraser, three nice notes, and an invitation from Nancy to have a Lovely Ladies tea party at her house after school.

  The morning had started out horribly. But I had one of the best afternoons ever.

  A Lovely Ladies Tea Party

  Hannie and I each went home after school. We met later on at Nancy’s house.

  Nancy has a trunk filled with old clothes. They are clothes her mother does not wear anymore, or bought at yard sales just for fun. I put on a lacy pink skirt, a long string of pearls, and a small purple hat with a veil.

  “How do I look, dahlinks?” I asked.

  “Simply stunning,” said Hannie. “What do you think of these shoes on me?”

  She was wearing gold high heels that were about ten sizes too big.

  “Perfect,” I replied.

  Nancy was wearing high heels, too. She clip-clopped over to her closet and came back carrying a tea set.

  “Hello, tea set!” I said. “I missed you.”

  It was the first tea set I had ever owned. I had not seen it since Kristy held her toy sale at the big house. (She was raising money to buy new equipment for her softball team, Kristy’s Krushers.) I had not wanted to donate my tea set to the sale, but Mommy talked me into it. Then Hannie and Nancy bought it for me as a surprise. Nancy said she would keep it at her house and I could use it whenever I wanted.

  We set out the cups and saucers.

  “May I pour you some tea?” asked Nancy.

  “That would be lovely,” I replied.

  “Just a half a cup for me,” said Hannie.

  Nancy poured iced tea into our cups. She held out a plate of oatmeal raisin cookies.

  “Cookie?” said Nancy.

  “Don’t mind if I do,” I said. I held out my pinky like a Lovely Lady and took a cookie from the plate. Then, since I had not eaten much lunch, I took two more.

  While we drank our tea and ate our cookies we talked about Halloween, which was not far away.

  “What are you going to be this year?” asked Hannie.

  “I think I might be a pumpkin,” said Nancy.

  “I do not know yet,” I replied. “I have already been a witch, a ghost, a monster, and Pippi Longstocking. I want to think of something different this year.”

  “Me, too,” said Hannie. “Maybe I will be a black cat.”

  “I wish we could go trick-or-treating by ourselves,” I said. “Without any grownups.”

  “What a cool idea!” said Nancy.

  “Do you think our parents would let us?” asked Hannie.

  “There is only one way to find out,” I said. “Let’s go ask them.”

  We raced downstairs in our Lovely Ladies outfits. While Nancy was asking her mother, Hannie and I took turns calling our homes. Hannie went first.

  “My mom wants to speak to your mom,” Hannie said to Nancy.

  Mrs. Papadakis and Mrs. Dawes talked for a few minutes. Then I called Mommy. She wanted to talk to Nancy’s mother, too.

  Finally Mrs. Dawes hung up the phone.

  “Well, can we? Can we go trick-or-treating by ourselves?” asked Nancy.

  “The answer for now is maybe,” said Mrs. Dawes. “The grown-ups need more time to talk it over. We will let you know in a few days. I promise.”

  All right! The Three Musketeers wished the answer had been yes. But maybe was not too bad. At least the answer had not been no. Now all we had to do was wait.

  Karen’s Good Idea

  On Saturday morning, I hopped out of bed and raced to the kitchen.

  “Good morning!” I said. “Is there any important Halloween news for me?”

  I looked at Mommy. Then at Seth. Then back at Mommy.

  “I cannot think of any right now,” said Mommy. “How about you, Seth?”

  “No. No Halloween news here,” Seth replied.

  “Are you sure? I thought you might have something to tell me about trick-or-treating,” I said.

  “Be patient,” said Mommy. “We will have an answer for you soon.”

  “Right now, how about having some breakfast?” said Seth. “We have cereal, strawberries, and mini-muffins.”

  “I want everything! I am hungry,” said Andrew, racing into the kitchen.

  “Me, too,” I replied.

  I took a blueberry mini-muffin, then poured myself a bowl of Krispy Krunchy cereal. It is my favorite kind. I added strawberries. Yum.

  While I ate, I tried a few more times to get an answer from Mommy and Seth about Halloween.

  “Is the answer maybe yes, or maybe no?” I asked.

  “At the moment, the answer is maybe,” said Seth. “How about another muffin?”

  “No, thank you,” I said. “I am done.”

  I could see I was not going to get an answer to my Halloween question this morning. So I went back to my room.

  I looked at the calendar hanging on my wall. I started counting the days until Halloween. Then I changed my mind and started counting the months to my birthday. When my birthday came I would be eight. I bet if I were eight I could go trick-or-treating without an adult. Eight is very grown-up. No one could call me a baby when I was eight.

  “My birthday is a long time away,” I said to Goosie.

  I studied the calendar some more. My real birthday was a long time away. But wait. My half birthday was soon. It was exactly two weeks away.

  “In two weeks, I will be seven and a half like most of the kids in my class,” I told Goosie. “I will not be a seven-year-old baby anymore.”

  Hmm. I was getting an idea. I decided to try it out on Goosie.

  “What do you think of this?” I said. “I will give myself a half birthday party. It will be just like a regular birthday party, but everything will be in half. I will serve half a birthday cake. I will invite half the kids in my class. I will ask each guest to bring half a present.”

  I could tell Goosie thought this was an excellent idea.

  I was happy with my idea. And not with just half my idea. I was happy with the whole thing.

  May I Have a Party?

  On Sunday morning I did not ask Mommy and Seth about Halloween. I tried my best to be patient. That is because I had another favor to ask. I wanted to ask if I could have a half birthday party.

  “Good morning!” I said when I walked into the kitchen.

  Mommy and Seth said good morning back. Then they looked at me. I could tell they were waiting for me to ask about trick-or-treating. I surprised them. I did not ask.

  I sat down at the table and said, “May I have the cereal, please?”

  “One box of Krispy Krunchy cereal, coming right up,” said Seth.

  “Um, Karen? Isn’t there something you would like to ask us?” said Mommy.

  “No. I am being patient, just like you said,” I replied politely.

  “We appreciate that,” said Seth. “Would you like some strawberries?”

  “Sure,” I replied. I put a few strawberries on my cereal. I poured in some milk.

  I ate my cereal without asking my question. I drank my juice and my milk without asking my question. I popped two more strawberries into my mouth. I still did not ask my question.

  When I finished my breakfast, I patted my mouth with my napkin. I pushed my chair from the table. Then my question popped out of my mouth all by itself.

  “May I have a half birthday party, please? My half birthday is less than two weeks away. It is a very important occasion,” I said.

  “Why is that?” asked Seth.

  I explained why turning seven and a half meant so much to me.

  “All my classmates are seven and a half, or eight. I am the only one who is just plain seven. Sometimes they tease me and treat me like a baby,” I said.

  “I am sorry to hear that,” said Mommy. “It sounds as though your half birthday is very important this year.”
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  “It is very, very important,” I said.

  Mommy and Seth talked it over. Guess what. They said I could have the party.

  I ran to my room to tell Goosie the good news and start making plans.

  “The first thing I need is a guest list,” I said.

  I took out a red marker and a piece of paper. At the top, I wrote in big letters: KAREN’S HALF BIRTHDAY PARTY GUEST LIST. Below that I started writing names. I wrote down Hannie and Nancy first.

  “Who else should I invite from my class? I can only invite half the kids,” I said. “I know. I will invite Ricky because he is my pretend husband. I will invite Bobby because he is a school friend, and a neighbor, too. I will invite Addie because she gave me those smiley stickers. Uh-oh. Pamela, Jannie, and Leslie gave me paper flowers. Does that mean I have to invite them?”

  I got an idea. I wrote the names of the rest of the kids in my class on little pieces of paper. I put half the papers in one pile and half in another. I closed my eyes, turned around three times and pointed to a pile.

  “Abracadabra! This is the party pile,” I said to Goosie.

  I added the names of the kids in the party pile to my guest list. I made up a beautiful invitation for each one of them. I decided to hand out the invitations first thing in the morning.

  Invitations

  I started handing out my invitations as soon as I got to school the next morning.

  “Addie, this is for you. Ricky, here is yours. Hi, Hannie, this is for you,” I said. (I had already given Nancy and Bobby their invitations on the bus.)

  I handed invitations to Omar Harris, Sara Ford, and Jannie.

  “Where is my invitation?” asked Pamela.

  “And mine?” said Leslie.

  “I did not get one either,” said Hank.

  “I do not have invitations for you,” I replied. “The invitations are for my half birthday party. I am only inviting half the kids in our class.”

  “Why aren’t you inviting me?” said Pamela. “I apologized to you and gave you a handmade flower. Remember?”

  “Me, too,” said Leslie.

  “I apologized,” said Hank.

  I did not expect to have so much trouble with the invitations. I tried to explain.

  “I did not invite just the kids who apologized to me. I made two piles of papers with names on them. One pile of names got invited and one pile did not,” I said.

  “I do not think that is very considerate,” said Terri.

  “It was the only way to do it,” I said. “It is a half birthday party, so only half the class can be invited.”

  “That sounds like a dumb idea to me,” said Tammy.

  I gave Tammy a meanie-mo look. I was glad she had not been in my “invited” pile.

  “Do we have to get you presents?” asked Jannie. “You got presents when you turned seven. You will get more presents when you turn eight. Why should you get presents when you turn seven and a half?”

  “Because I am having a party, that’s why,” I replied.

  Suddenly it seemed as though everyone was mad at me — the kids who were invited and the kids who were not.

  “You only have to bring me half a present each,” I said.

  “Half a present?” said Omar. “How are we supposed to give you half a present?”

  I heard someone say I was being a pain. That was not nice. If the person who said it had been invited, I would have uninvited him right away.

  All I wanted to do was have a half birthday party.

  I did not know why it was turning into such a big problem. I tried to find out who was coming.

  “Whoever got an invitation and wants to come to my party, raise your hand,” I said.

  First a few hands went up. Then a few more. The kids did not look as happy as I had thought they would. I wondered if they really wanted to come to my party. Maybe they were just saying yes because everyone had been mean to me on Friday and now they thought they had to be nice.

  Oh, well. The kids who were invited would have fun once the party got started. The other kids would probably forget the whole thing.

  No matter what, I was going to have fun at my party. And in less than two weeks, I was going to turn seven and a half!

  The Decision

  On Wednesday, Hannie and Nancy came to my house for a play date, then stayed for a pizza and salad dinner. When we finished eating, Mommy and Seth had a surprise for us.

  “The grown-ups have come to a decision about Halloween,” said Mommy. “We have decided that the three of you may go trick-or-treating on your own. There are two conditions.”

  “Yes!” I shouted.

  “What are the conditions?” asked Nancy.

  “You must start at four-thirty when it is still light outside. And you must stay on our street,” said Seth.

  “If you want to go beyond this street, then a grown-up will have to go with you,” said Mommy.

  The Three Musketeers looked at each other. We were happy.

  “Yes!” I shouted again. Then I said, “May we please be excused?”

  “Of course,” said Seth. “Have fun.”

  We ran upstairs to my room and closed the door.

  “This is so cool!” said Nancy. “Trick-or-treating by ourselves is a big deal.”

  “I feel more grown-up already,” said Hannie.

  “Are you still going to be a black cat?” I asked Hannie.

  “I am not sure. I might be a leopard instead. I like all those spots,” Hannie replied.

  “I am not sure I want to be a pumpkin anymore,” said Nancy. “I may go as Little Red Riding Hood. Then I can use my basket for goodies. Do you know what you are going to be?”

  “I have not decided yet. Now that we are trick-or-treating by ourselves, I want to be something really special,” I said. “Maybe I will go as a royal princess. Or maybe I will be something big and scary like a dragon, or …”

  Knock, knock.

  “Who is it?” I asked. “We are having an important meeting.”

  “It is me,” Andrew replied. “I want to ask you a question.”

  I let Andrew come in.

  “Can I go trick-or-treating with you?” he asked.

  “No way. You are too little,” I said. “The three of us are going trick-or-treating without any grown-ups. Only big kids like us can do that. You have to go with Mommy or Seth.”

  “I do not want to go with Mommy or Seth. I want to go with you,” replied Andrew.

  “I am sorry, but you cannot come with us.”

  “I will be good. I promise,” said Andrew.

  “You will be good if you close the door on your way out,” I said. “We have to plan our costumes now.”

  “I do not like you anymore!” shouted Andrew. “I hope you do not get any treats. I hope you get all tricks!”

  He stomped out of the room and slammed the door.

  “Little brothers can be pesty sometimes,” I said. “Now where were we? Oh, yes. I was deciding what my costume should be.”

  I had lots more ideas to share with my friends.

  Party Plans

  When I woke up on Tuesday, I looked at my calendar. My party was going to be on Saturday. That was less than a week away.

  “The countdown begins! Four days to party time,” I said to Goosie.

  I dressed fast and ran downstairs. I needed to talk to Mommy and Seth about my plans. I told them my ideas between bites of cereal.

  “My guests only have to get half dressed up,” I said. “I am going to dress up my right side and wear play clothes on my left side. I will wear one party sock, one party bow, and one white party glove.”

  “That sounds like fun,” said Mommy.

  “We can only decorate half of the living room,” I added. “And we should bake half a birthday cake.”

  “Maybe we should bake the whole cake and serve it half at a time,” said Seth. “You cannot ask your friends to bring only half their appetites.”

  “Why not?” I asked. ??
?They can have a snack before they come.”

  After breakfast, I rode the bus to school with Nancy. Hannie was already in class when we arrived. I told my friends my party ideas. (I thought about telling them only half my ideas, but it was not my half birthday yet. So I told them everything I had thought of so far.)

  “So what do you think?” I asked.

  Before they had the chance to answer, I got another great party idea.

  “How about this?” I said. “We can play games only halfway. That means there will be no winners or losers.”

  “And no prizes, either,” said Bobby.

  He must have overhead me talking. Pamela must have been listening, too.

  “I am glad I am not going,” she said. “It sounds as though your half birthday party is going to be only half fun.”

  “You are just sorry you were not invited,” I replied.

  “You can have my invitation,” I heard Jannie whisper.

  I noticed some other kids whispering, too. But I could not hear what they were saying. And I did not have time to try to listen. I was too busy making my party plans.

  I had another great party idea. I would ask the kids to sing only half of “Happy Birthday” to me. And I would blow out only half the candles.

  I was having fun already and my party had not even started. This half birthday party was one of my best ideas ever.

  Making Costumes

  “I have decided to be a dinosaur for Halloween,” I said to Hannie and Nancy. “I am going to be an ultrasaurus. That is one of the largest dinosaurs that ever lived!”

  The Three Musketeers had called for a special Halloween costume meeting. We were having it at my house on Thursday after school.

  “That’s a cool idea,” said Hannie. “But can you wear such a big costume by yourself?”

  “No problem,” I said. “I will get someone to wear it with me. Do you want to be the back end of my ultrasaurus?”

  “No. I still want to be a leopard,” Hannie replied.

  “Nancy, do you want to wear my costume with me?” I asked.

  “I am sorry, Karen. I still want to be Little Red Riding Hood,” Nancy replied.