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Carolina clutched her quarter in her hand and took a deep breath.  Glancing at the other diners in Whimsy, all circled around the lily-pad speckled fountain, she bit her lip.  “Ready?”

“Ready!” a nosy woman cried, elbowing her friend in her eagerness.

“Ready!” cried the little girl, hopping up and down so hard her mother grabbed for her penny as it flew in the air.

“Ready!” cried Hibiscus, her chin smeared with buttercream from her pilfering cake fingers.

“Freddie?” The hard of hearing woman croaked, looking confused.

“No, ready!” her friend bellowed into her ear.

“Oh, yes, ready!” the old woman cried, rearing her arm back.

“One…two…three!”

On the count of three, dozens of pennies and one lone quarter sailed through the air, landing with a series of plops and globs into the fountain.  The frog band, who had the good sense to duck underneath a umbrella, jauntily set forth into a cheerful rendition of “When you Wish Upon a Star.”

“Well, that’s done!”  Hibiscus dusted off her hands and eyed her enourmous cake, the side secretly carved with lines from her sweet-loving fingers.  “Shall we have some cake?”

The other ladies nodded and murmured in agreement, each eying the massive cake hungrily.

“When do you think our wishes will come true?” Carolina asked, staring into the fountain like she expected the wish to come leaping out.  A swan glided by, preening.

“Who knows?” Josh said glumly, crossing his arms and glaring.  “I didn’t get to make a wish.”

“Greedy people don’t get to make wishes,” Hibiscus informed him, her pinkie flicking out and scraping along the back side of the cake.  Holding a napkin up to her lips, her buttercream loaded finger slowly raised to her mouth.  “It’s a law of the universe, like karma.”

“In that case, you shouldn’t be able to make a wish either,” Josh retorted, snatching the napkin away.  Hibiscus yanked her pinkie out guiltily.  “I was simply tasting it.”

“You’ve been doing a lot of tasting,” Josh retorted, pointing to the cake.

“I was curious.”  Hisbiscus’ stained lips drew into a pout.  Frowning, she turned to Carolina.  “The cake, my dear?”

“It’s not time to eat cake!”  The tiny girl clutching her mother’s hand piped up, stepping forward.  “If we eat the cake, it means the party is over!”

“That’s very true.” Carolina chewed on her lips.  “I didn’t think of that.”

“But this is whimsy,” Hibiscus protested, licking her lips as she longingly stared at the cake.  “Surely we can reverse things?”

“Now, now, it’s everyone’s birthday and everyone should be able to decide,” Josh said smoothly, a wicked gleam in his eye.  “Who would like to play a game?”

Several of the ladies raised their hands.

“And who would like to eat cake this instant?”

Several ladies raised their hands.

“It’s a tie,” Josh announced with a frown.  “How shall we break it?”

“Let Carolina do it.  It’s her real birthday.  She’s only sharing her party with us.”  The little girl gazed up at her idol, wishing she had a pink dress just like Carolina’s.  As if reading her mind, Carolina smoothed her skirt and blushed.

“If it’s all right with everyone, I’d like to play a game.” Carolina gazed around at the other ladies.  “Or perhaps some dancing?”

“Bridge!” one woman cried.

“Poker!” another shouted with a gleam in her eye.

“A cake eating contest,” Hibiscus suggested hopefully.

“Hide and seek!” the little girl cried, clapping her hands and leaping up and down.  “Let’s play hide and seek!”

“Yes, that sounds perfect!”  Carolina beamed.  “Who’s it?”

“I’ll be it,” Josh volunteered, setting down his notepad and pen.  Covering his eyes, he began to count.  “One, two, three, four, five…”

Giggling, the ladies dashed away to various corners of the room.  Several ducked under tables, one tripped and fell in the fountain, one tried to climb into the umbrella stand and another hid behind the coatrack.  Hibiscus dashed off to hide behind the waiter’s podium, taking the cake with her.  Glancing around, Carolina hurried behind a tall mannequin wearing a ballgown.

“Ready or not, here I come!”

Hiding her giggles behind her hand, Carolina watched as Josh sprinted across the room, finding one woman after another.  Suddenly, a cool hand touched her shoulder.

“Carolina?”

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