she did.
Suddenly the girl in the next swing hopped off and Jake hopped on. Side by side they rose higher and higher. She felt like they were acrobats flying through air. She felt like they were jets criss-crossing the sky. She felt like they were birds gliding above the trees. She wished they could swing forever.
Then the bell rang. Together they jumped off the swings.
âJake,â said Kate, as they walked back to class. âIâm going to ask my mom if I can have a pirate party.â
âHey. Thatâs neat. You could ask everyone to dress up like a pirate,â he suggested.
âAnd we could bake a red and black strawberry chocolate cake,â said Kate.
âAnd you could get red and black jelly beans,â said Jake.
âIâll ask my mom today,â said Kate, as they slipped into their seats.
Kate didnât wait long. The minute her mom picked her up after school, she said, âCan I have a pirate birthday party?â
âThatâs an unusual idea for a birthday party,â said her mom.
âIt will be so much fun,â said Kate. âWe can make a pirate cake and blow up red and black balloons and hunt for buried treasure and play pin the fin on the shark and...â
âHold on, pirate girl,â said Kateâs mom, laughing. âYouâve convinced me.â
âOh, thank you! Thank you!â said Kate, hugging her mom tight. âYouâre the best mom in the world. And can I borrow your red scarf to wear as a sash, please?â
âWhy not?â said her mom.
âYippee!â sang Kate, dancing up and down the sidewalk. âI have to tell Jake.â
As soon as they arrived home, Kate ran to the phone.
âKate MâMate, itâs going to be great,â sang Jake.
âDonât forget, you canât be late,â sang Kate.
âMe? Late?â said Jake. âNever. Well, never for a party!â
Chapter Four
Imagine
âSlow down, Kate,â said her mom the next day after school. âI canât keep up with your ideas.â
âBut imagine if we turned the basement into a pirate island. We could make the couch a pirate ship and the rug the ocean and the coffee table could be the plank the prisoners have to walk across before they fall into the ocean.â
âI donât think I want twenty kids bouncing on our couch, jumping off our table and drowning on our rug,â said Kateâs mother. âSo letâs just have pirate food, pirate games and pirate decorations.â
âBut, Mom. Just imagine...â Kate began. Then she saw the stern look on her momâs face. âOkay,â she said. âNo island, but we have to make pirate patches. Everyone has to get a patch to decorate.â
âSounds good,â said her mom. âLetâs go shopping this weekend for birthday supplies.â
âThen Iâll write up all the invitations and give them out on Monday,â said Kate.
For the rest of that week, Kate couldnât wait for the weekend. She couldnât stop herself from dreaming up more ideas for the party.
Her mom didnât like most of them.
âKate,â said her mom. âIâm afraid someone would choke if we buried treasure in the birthday cake. And no duels, especially not with broomsticks.â
âWhat if we buried treasure in a bucket of sand?â asked Kate. âWe have lots of sand in the sandbox. And what if we had duels with chopsticks or even Popsicle sticks? What if...â
âKate, please,â said her mom. âNo more ideas. We canât do everything. Itâs a three-hour party. Not a week long festival.â
âI just want everyone to have fun,â said Kate.
âIf we do all the things youâve thought of, everyone will be too exhausted to have fun. Especially your parents.â
Chapter Five
The Party Store
On Saturday morning, Kate and her mom drove to The Party Store at the
David Stuckler Sanjay Basu
Aiden James, Patrick Burdine