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“She ordered a menu surprise,” a woman whispered to her friend behind her hand.

“She ordered a menu surprise,” a little girl informed her embarrassed mother in a near-screech.

“She ordered a menu surprise,” an older woman murmured demurely to her even older sister.

“What?” her sister squawked, cupping her hand around her ear.  “What did you say?”

“She ordered a menu surprise,” the older woman said in a louder tone.

“What?  What was that?”

“SHE ORDERED A MENU SURPRISE!” the older woman bellowed into her sister’s eardrum.

“Really?”  Her sister’s jaw dropped open.  Pulling out her cell phone, she pressed a button and held it to her lips.  “Natalie, tell James not to pick us up until I call.  Things are getting interesting at Whimsy today.”  She flipped the phone closed and rubbed her hands together, unabashedly staring in their direction.  Hibiscus Honeycutt, her fruit hat sloping dangerously over her forehead, glared back.

“Some people have no tact,” she muttered.  “No class, no tact…how terribly rude!”

“Excuse me?” Carolina asked timidly, glancing up at Josh.  “What is a menu surprise?  Why is everyone so…shocked by it?”

Josh shifted, clutching one of the oversized menus to his chest.  “Well, Carolina, the thing is in Whimsy…every order comes with an adventure.”

“An adventure?” Carolina blinked.  “What do you mean, an adventure?”

“They can be big or small, long or short, far away or very close.”  Josh grinned, nudging Hibiscus Honeycutt, who looked more like her stern grandmother than ever as she scowled at the deaf older woman.  “You remember that time that woman ordered escargot and had to be the judge of a snail race?  She was here for three days!”

“And she kept ordering other dishes that whisked her on other adventures, so when she came back the snails would start all over again!” Hibiscus chortled.   “My personal favorite was the woman who ordered Sandcastle Waffles.”

“I’d forgotten about her!” Josh cried.  “Oh gosh!”

“What are sandcastle waffles?” Carolina asked.

“They’re delicious,” Hibiscus Honeycutt assured her.  “They’re these big fluffy golden waffles with a cinnamon sugar topping.  The chef has a special iron that makes each one look like a sandcastle, and they’re served in an ocean of syrup with berries dotting the castle walls like seashells and scrambled eggs served in a little beach bucket with a bacon shovel.”

Carolina licked her lips.  “What happened to the woman that ordered them?”  She twisted her hands nervously.  Carolina would very much like to order some sandcastle waffles, but she didn’t want to be here for three days watching a crab relay or something.

“It was marvelous!” Hibiscus cried, Josh bobbing his head behind her.  “Her water glass turned into an enchanted ocean and mermaids no bigger than her pinkie nail made her an official guest and treated her to a wonderful concert.  They were remarkable singers.”

“Or there was the time a little boy ordered hot dogs and cheddar cheese croissant rolls,” Josh recalled.  “A miniature Oscar Meyer Weiner mobile pulled up and he drove it all around Whimsy for hours, singing the Oscar Meyer song and delivering hot dogs to guests waiting for their meals.”

“But what happens to these…adventures…once they’re over?” Carolina asked.  “Like, where do the mermaids in the water cup go?  Where do the snails go?  What happens to the car?”

“Oh, they hang around Whimsy,” Josh replied, waving his hand.  “They come and go as they please.  They can stay as long or as little as they like or come back as often as they want.”

“And just because you order the same dish doesn’t mean you’ll get the same adventure,” Hisbiscus added.  “I once ordered the lamb tacos and found myself touring Greece in a sombero.  The next time I ordered them, I found myself in Mexico riding a goat.”

“That’s precisely what I don’t understand!” Carolina cried.  “How can you ride on a goat and eat your lunch?  And what happens if you have somewhere to go or be?”

“Adventures only take as long or as little as you need,” Josh assured her.  “You won’t miss class.  Don’t worry.”

Carolina pressed her lips together.  “I should have stayed in Comfort.”  She shook her head.  “Right now I could be having chicken tenders and macaroni and cheese–good macaroni and cheese, the kind without jalepenos or bacon or fancy cheeses.  Just regular cheddar macaroni and cheese.  and peanut butter cookies with fork marks, just like they should be.”

“You can still go to Comfort,” Josh informed her.  “We can cancel your Whimsy order.”

“Though you’ll miss seeing my Menu Surprise.”  Hibiscus rubbed her hands together and wiggled her eyebrows.  “That would be a shame.”

“No one has even told me what a menu surprise is,” Carolina complained.

“It’s a surprise, of course!” Hibiscus laughed.  “The grandest surprise at all.  In fact, it’s such a surprise that no one has ever ordered it.”

“No one’s had the guts to,” Josh said bluntly.

Carolina’s face contorted into a look of horror.  “Then why did you order it?’

“Because it’s your birthday!” Hibiscus threw her arms in the air.  “And because it’s a Tuesday.  And because it just seemed like the right thing to do!”  Adjusting her fruit laden hat as it tipped over her eye, she plopped down in a white iron filigree chair.  “Now, Carolina dear, have a seat and tell me all about yourself.  We’ll have some punch and shortbread cookies while we wait, Josh.”  Wiggling her eyebrows, she leaned forward.  “I’m dying to learn all about you.”

Stay tuned, Invisible Friends!  We have a week full of whimsy coming up!