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Closing her eyes, Carolina slid the bite in her mouth.  Chewing slowly, she gulped it down audibly.  Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes.

Hibiscus Honeycutt and Josh were gaping at her.

“What?”  She ran a hand over her hair and patted her dress.  “What happened?  Where did I go?”

“Nowhere!” Hibiscus bellowed, throwing her arms in the air.  “How disappointing is that!  You didn’t go anywhere!  Nothing exhilarating happened!”

The other diners bobbed their heads, chiming in.

“We were expecting fireworks,” the woman with her friend said.

“I wanted a pony!” the little girl screeched to her mother.  “I wanted her to get a pony!  A pink one!”

“Nothing happened,” the older woman murmured to her deaf sister.

“What?  What happened?” the older woman bellowed.

“Nothing!” all the customers shouted back.  Blinking, the older woman shook her grey head.  “That’s because she doesn’t have any whimsy in her heart!  That’s why!”

Carolina shrank back from the table.  “But I went to Italy just a few moments ago!”

“On her meal, the menu surprise,” the older woman shouted, her finger pressing on her hearing aide and her other hand flailing about.  “Hibiscus has more whimsy than I’ve got warts and moles.”

Hibiscus poked at her still covered dish, her nose wrinkled.  “I think I just lost my appetite.”

“Is it bad I don’t have any whimsy in my soul?”  Carolina’s stomach, unused to the tuna salad and all this stress, twisted in knots.

“It’s not bad,” the older woman bellowed, shrugging.  “It’s just…”

“Dull,” Josh supplied.

“Comfortable,” another woman suggested diplomatically.

“Safe,” another offered.

“Boring!” the little girl shouted, bouncing up and down on her chair gleefully.

Carolina stared at her tuna salad and biscuits.  “I don’t want to be boring and safe.”

“You eat at Comfort everyday.”  Hibiscus snorted, leaning over to a plant.  She reached into a brilliant red bloom and pulled out a pitcher, pouring fruit juice into an empty glass she pulled from its pot.  “That’s the definition of safe and boring.  That food hasn’t changed in 100 years.  That’s practically how old the cook is.”

“Don’t insult Hilda,” Josh hissed, glancing around.  “She’s very cranky.”

“Of course she is.”  Hibiscus reached for another glass of fruit juice, patting the red bloom.  “She’s ancient.  I’d be cranky if I was that ancient.”

“But I truly don’t want to be boring and dull!” Carolina fretted, wringing her pale hands.  “That’s the whole reason I came over here after all.”

Hibiscus downed her second glass of fruit juice.  “I don’t think you’re boring and dull.”

Carolina beamed.  “You don’t?  Truly?”

Hibiscus downed a third glass and wiped her mouth on the dainty white napkin.  “I think you’re scared.”

“Scared?” Carolina stuttered.  “Of what?”

“Of everything.”  Hisbiscus poked at her dinner cover.  “I blame your grandmother, of course.  You’ve never had a bit of whimsy in your life.  Every decision has been made for you since you were five.  You know what you’re expected to wear, what to eat, when to sleep, what your day is going to be like.  Of course you’re scared!  You’d be a fool not to be!”

Carolina frowned.  “But I don’t want to be scared.  I just don’t know…”

“How to stop?” Hibiscus filled in.  “Well, the easy thing would be to tell you to stop.  But that’s the thing about whimsy.  You can’t plan it or follow the rules.  You just have to be.”

Carolina thought for a moment.  Leaning back in her chair, she crossed her arms so her long blond hair covered her dainty features.  Lowering her head, she rested her chin on her hand and tapped her fingers against her cheek.

Meanwhile, Josh gaped at her as Hibiscus pleaded with the plant for more fruit juice.

Suddenly, Carolina leaped up so quickly her chair fell back, clattering to the floor with an awful crash.  Leaping onto the fountain next to the frog band, she threw her arms in the air.

“Listen, everyone!” she cried.  “It’s my 18th birthday today!”

Everyone cheered and clapped politely, though they knew that already.

“And since I don’t know how to be whimsical, I’ve decided you can help me!”

Everyone quit clapping and eyed her suspiciously.  They wanted to eat, not help.

“How?” Hibiscus demanded.

“What are you planning?” Josh squeaked, his face pink and shiney with nerves.

Carolina beamed.  “A birthday party.  With all of you.”  Swirling around, she nearly fell into the fountain.  “My adventure will be a birthday party in Whimsy.”

Stay tuned, Invisible Friends!  We have more delightful tales, odes and chaos and hilarity coming up!