Crisp, my aged companion, stopped at the gatepost.
“I had a birthday party once,” she said, “it was for my twelfth birthday, and my mother went to a lot of trouble to organise it. We lived out of town in those days, and she organised a bus to bring my town friends out to the farm.
She tied balloons around the gatepost at the top of our drive, and we waited for the bus to arrive.
It arrived with only three of the ten kids we’d invited on the bus.
They said the others had decided not to come.
My mother was devastated. She went up to the gatepost and tore off the balloons.
I was left with a lot of party stuff and three friends.
We certainly didn’t go hungry, as mum did her best to appear keen, but underneath I knew she was seething.”
Written for: https://crispinakemp.com/2020/06/24/crimsons-creative-challenge-85/
Morpethroad 
Such a sad thing to happen to a nearly-teen. Good take, Michael
Thanks Crispina
🙂
I can identify actually, though not a birthday party, but New Year. Imagine having invited 50 guests, had 30 positive replies so I catered for 20. There were 9 of us, 6 of which were family. So much wasted food, not beer as partner and his three friends polished off almost an entire keg, but it was the last party I gave there.
I wouldn’t be trying again either
Kids can be so thoughtless sometimes.
They certainly can
🧐
These things happen far too frequently, alas, and all too often the painful feelings drown the joy. 😦
And here I thought your photo was a pic of how you had mended your fence. And I was gonna tell ya that I use that kind of tying method too – besides with duct tape too. Ha!
Cheers!
Thanks for your comment. Duct tape has so many uses.
Awww. Such a sad tale… All the work the mum did but it seems Crisp doesn’t mind as much as she now knows she has three good friends.
Yes it’s good to look on the bright side
Absolutely!!