No. 90 April, 2009
The Happiest Birthday
by L. Anne Fiore
It was Friday the day before Lucy’s eight birthday. She was very excited because she was looking forward to her birthday party. Early the next day she and her mommy would be decorating the family room where the party would be held.
On Saturday morning, Lucy’s daddy was busy hanging the decorations, while her mommy was busy in the kitchen preparing the party goodies. Once everything was in place, it was time for Lucy and her little brother Joey to go up to their rooms to get ready. Lucy quickly slipped into her new yellow party dress; she tied up her ponytail with a yellow ribbon and put on her white Mary Jane shoes. As Lucy gazed at herself in the mirror, she thought to herself how pretty she looked. Some times she didn’t feel like she was pretty, but today she did.
The first guest to arrive was her best friend Sarah. Sarah was a pretty girl. She had big blue eyes and dark ringlet curls that framed her heart shaped face. Even Lucy’s mommy and daddy had commented on several occasions how pretty Sarah was; that made Lucy feel sad. She could never remember a time when someone told her that she was pretty. She could remember her daddy saying that she “looked great” or mommy saying, “Lucy you really look nice today”, but no one ever said that she was pretty. Was it because she wasn’t?
Lucy was looking at herself in the mirror when she heard her mommy calling for her to come down stairs; she turned away from the mirror and hurried down to greet Sarah.
The rest of the guests started to arrive and the party began. There were hot dogs, French fries and pizza, ice cream and a birthday cake. There was a game of pin the tail on the donkey, music for dancing, balloons for popping and pink cotton candy that would get stuck on noses and fingers and everywhere else. Everyone was having a great time, except Lucy. She looked like she was having fun, but she was really just pretending. It was her party and she was supposed to be happy, instead she was feeling sad as she watched everyone else having fun. When she though that no one was watching her she slipped away from the party and ran up stairs to her room. A little while had passed when there was a knock on her door. It was her daddy. He asked if he could come in, she said “yes.” He walked over and sat down on the bed where Lucy was crying with her face in her pillow. He gently lifted her away from her pillow. Holding her close he asked, “What’s the matter?” Lucy didn’t answer, she just continued to sob. Her daddy used his handkerchief to gently wipe the tears from Lucy’s face, and asked “Why is my pretty little girl crying on her special day?” Lucy looked up and said, “What did you say?” Her daddy repeated the question. “Why is my pretty little girl crying on her special day?” That was when Lucy realized that she was pretty. Her daddy just said she was. She took the handkerchief from her daddy, blew her nose and wiped away the rest of her tears. “I’m feeling much better now”, she said with a smile. “I think its time for me to get back to my party.” He gave her a wink and a nod and Lucy went back to her party.
When she walked into the room the goodies were being served. Lucy had some pizza. Oh, how she loved pizza. She danced, played games and got cotton candy stuck all over her face, laughing as her daddy took a picture of her with the pink stuff hanging off her nose. She didn't care. All she cared about was that she was having fun. Her daddy took lots of pictures of everyone and made sure to take a few extra pictures of Lucy and Sarah together. The party turned out to be a great success.
On Tuesday when her daddy came home from work, he handed Lucy a bag. When she opened the bag, she realized that it was the pictures from her birthday party. Daddy, mommy, Joey and Lucy took turns looking at the pictures. After looking at all the pictures her mommy and daddy told Lucy that she was the prettiest girl at the party. Lucy looked at them with a big smile and said, “This was the happiest birthday I ever had.”
copyright 2009, L. Anne Fiore
L. Anne Fiore-Nicoletti grew up in The Bronx. She and her husband relocated to Saugerties in 1998. She is retired from more than twenty-five years working in an administrative capacity in the health care sector. Annie had a great imagination all of her life. She started storytelling for her two granddaughters who she refers to as The Sunshine Girls. It was Tanna and Teah who prompted her to put one of their favorite stories on paper. Since then she has written several children’s short stories and is working on her first novel. Annie enjoys writing for pleasure and hopes to some day be published. She is also the founder of the Saugerties Writer’s Club.
