Marigold was eight years old. Well, she would be eight on Saturday, and that was the day of her birthday party. Her mother bought invitations, and Mari passed them out to her classmates, everyone was invited. It was going to be a pool party and her mother had rented the local pool. They would have the whole place to themselves.
Saturday finally came and Mari and her family drove to the pool early to set up. Her little sister, Rose, and her older brother, Heath, also came and planned to join in the fun. Mari’s parents put simple decorations on the fence around the pool and on the tables and her father blew up tons of balloons. The cake and lemonade sat on one table, looking pretty and inviting.
It was a hot day, and Mari’s siblings had already tested the water, and proclaimed that the temperature was perfect. Mari sat at a table, waiting until her friends got there so they could all jump in together.
The time for the party came, and Mari waited excitedly for several minutes, watching for cars to pull up and drop off party-goers. After a time, she began to get agitated and upset, afraid no one was going to come. She could see her parents whispering over by the cake table. Finally, her best friend, Patty, showed up.
“Sorry I’m late,” Patty said, “but where is everyone?” Mari just shrugged. Patty smiled and grabbed Mari’s arm and with a loud whoop they jumped into the pool. They were splashing and laughing and Mari tried to ignore her feelings of rejection.
Some children came to the pool and she could hear her mother explaining that the pool was closed for a bit for the party. The children said they had walked there, and were obviously disappointed. Mari jumped out and asked her mother if they could swim, since there was plenty of room. “I supposed so, if you’re sure it’s alright,” her mother said. Mari opened the gate and let them in. Rose and Heath knew a couple of the children, so the pool was soon full of shouts and laughter.
When it was time for cake, Mari made a wish and blew out her candles. Then her mother cut her a piece of cake so big it covered her whole plate. While everyone was out of the pool enjoying cake and lemonade, Rose and Heath threw all the balloons into the pool and the kids watched the colorful orbs floating over the surface of the water. Soon, they were back in the water, swimming with the balloons.
All in all, Mari decided it wasn’t such a bad birthday party. It was not what she had expected, but she still had a good time. She found out later that Suzy, the most popular girl in her class, had invited a large portion of their class to a local amusement park for her birthday party on the same day. That explained why most of the people she invited had not come. Mari decided she didn’t care. Many years later, when Mari was crowned homecoming queen and Suzy wasn’t even on the court, she felt just a tiny bit of happiness that she had bested Suzy after all.
The image is from Tirachard Kumtanom on Pexels.
The image depicts a pool with a grouted tile floor. Lots of colorful balloons float on its surface.
#FFFC
A Little Bit of Everything, With Love 