It was Charlie’s birthday party. He was seven years old! All his friends were there. They were having a wonderful time playing games like musical chairs and pin the tail on the donkey. They bashed a pinata to bits then played and a game to see who could be the quietest for longest! That was Daddy’s idea!
Suddenly there was a loud rat-a-tat-tat at the door, then in walked a clown, all dressed in blue with a big red nose and curly yellow hair. He flung his arms into the air and down floated zillions of sparkly stars.
He did all sorts of tricks like pulling a string of sausages from John’s ear, and yellow rabbit from a hat on Charlie’s head. He grabbed lots and lots of balloons from his pocket and started blowing them up. The girls giggled with their fingers in their ears while the boys shouted ‘bang, bang’! He pulled and twisted them which made a horrible squeaky noise! He turned them into poodles with blue heads and green legs, and pink daffodils, and purple swords and loads of other balloony things.
Then he held a huge green sheet in front of himself. Suddenly there was a loud bang and a puff of red smoke. The sheet fell on the ground and the clown had disappeared! They all sat there with their mouths open trying to work out where he had gone.
‘Birthday cake’, shouted Mummy from the kitchen. The lights went off and in she came, her face lit up by seven little candles. Suddenly they forgot about the clown!
‘All sing Happy Birthday to Charlie’ she said.
Tomorrow –
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In 2018 – My Friend Rosey – Cycling!
In 2017 – Amble Bay – The Church
This brought back beautiful memories of how birthday parties used to be. Great story Keith ( Linda)
…and still should be, but times change with technology. Thanks so much.
Pretty cool story. I thought the clown was going to appear with the cake or something. You got me!
Now that would have been a clever trick!!! Thanks Jamie.
It sounds a very happy occasion and a great success
I wouldn’t want to be left with the clearing up!
No one ever remembers the clown once they see the cake, is that why they turn evil? 😀 This was a sweet tale, Keith. I’m going to make my son read this one.
Cake is more magical than even a clown!. I hope he enjoys it, thanks Varad.
The simplest birthday party are always the best.
Aren’t they just? Nowadays they are more likely to sit playing video games! Thanks Antoinette
Good day, friend!
I just stopped by as part of the A-to-Z Challenge. Your story made me want to find a little one to share it with…but they’ve all grown up on me, lol.
Lovely blog!
Thanks, and best wishes!
Cherdo
Cherdo on the Flipside
Blogging from A-to-Z April Challenge
Haha! Mine too Cherdo! Thanks for dropping by.
I am going to take printout of all your blogs and make my kid read them in the summer holidays starting from next week Keith. They are really wonderful
Oh my goodness, I’m really flattered. Thanks so much.
Hi Keith.
I wrote a whole long comment about how I could see the faces of the children staring at an empty space in bewilderment and so on but WordPress didn’t like it and made me start all over again.
Nice post, thoroughly enjoyed it.
Blessings from one Grand Daddy to another, Geoff.
WordPress strikes again! Thank you so much for reading and commenting – twice!!!
But where did the clown go? Loved the balloon poodles! And yes, as QP and Eye pointed out – beautiful memories of my own.
Even I don’t know! I hope he was paid his fee in advance!
Never ask how a magic clown does his tricks, he is sworn to secrecy in clown school!
Great advice, I’ll bear it in mind!
Funny how some kids are scared of clowns and others adore them!
Beth
http://bethlapinsatozblog.wordpress.com/
Some adults too! Cheers Beth.
Ooohh. I don’t care for clowns. Charlie has his 5th birthday party on Saturday and NO clowns. Just lots of pizza and cake.
I’m with you – can I come, please?
I suppose you’ll be wanting another first class ticket, lol.
Of course!
I think I might have borrowed ‘Daddy’s idea’ myself once or twice 🙂
It’s a great game!
Maybe it’s just me, what with having a theme of ghost stories, or watching IT too many times, but I found that just a little creepy – LOL 😀 It’s the disappearing at the end that does it!
I’ve always been terrified of clowns – when I was small my parents could never get me or my twin to go down Margate sea front because they had clown heads on polls all the way along.
Great little story – I could almost hear the squeaks of the balloons.
Tasha
Tasha’s Thinkings – Ghost Stories
Clowns are a bit Marmitey! Fortunately I don’t remember seeing those heads on my visits to Margate or I’d be scared for life too! Delighted you enjoyed it Tasha
As Nilanjana wrote above, I have used “Daddy’s Idea” often through the years. Fun story. I always enjoyed a good balloon artist at work.
I’ve tried balloon modelling once or twice without success. Similarly ‘Daddy’s idea’!
I think this was only me, but, once I read about the clown, I began to imagine it like the one in Stephen King’s IT! 😛
I really love the Daddy’s idea. I would love to do that in future once my toddler begins inviting friends home!
😉
No no no, not a god idea in a kids story. On the other hand….!
Such wonderful fun Keith thank you! Lovely tension and anticipation!
Delighted to have amused you Susan, thanks so much.
Good story! Funny how the children’s attention can be swayed by cake…..oh….cake! 🙂
My attention was swayed by the clown who I believe can now be found in Stephen King’s sewer.
He certainly getas around! Cheers Sascha
lol yup! 🙂
As a horror writer, I was waiting for this to take a dark turn when the clown walked in haha
Debbie
Keith,
What a cute story! I guess the children will never know what became of that clown and probably could care less with cake claiming their attention. Hmmm, now I want chocolate cake! Please don’t tell me it was chocolate!! Thanks for stopping by earlier to check out my latest edition in my Little Mermaid art sketch series feature Carlotta
The cake was…..oh dear, how can I break it to you? It was chocolaty!
Well at least he didn’t disappear with one of the kids!
Now that would have been a twist! I’m pleased he didn’t.
Aah! Birthday cake makes kids forget everything. Loved the clown’s disappearing act. Such a cute and vivid little story, Keith!! 🙂
Not just kids, me too! Cheers Shilpa
I wonder if many children’s parties still have the old fashioned games. I know the pinata is alive and well but it is a long time since I’ve heard of musical chairs, hide the parcel or pin the tail on the donkey games. Playing catch-up with visiting other A-Z Challenge participants. Great story Linda 🙂
I’d like to think that some parents have kept such games alive. Happy days!
Muchas gracias. ?Como puedo iniciar sesion?