THE ARRIVAL OF MOLLY TICKLEPITCHER
WRITTEN BY LOIS NEWBEGIN VALENTIN
It was a hot summer’s day in the month of July and it was very humid. As you looked about the neighborhood, you could see everybody’s laundry hanging on their clotheslines. People were washing their cars. House windows were open to let what little air there was in.
For most people, it was a usual day. But not for the Splash family. They were busy getting ready for a visitor. Mag’s cousin, Molly Ticklepitcher, was coming to visit for the summer.
Mag was happy because she loved her cousin. They were the same age - nine year’s old. They were about the same size. Molly would be coming tomorrow and everything must be ready. Yes, what a day tomorrow would be!
The next morning, Sunday, Mag was up bright and early. She ate her breakfast, did her chores, then went out to play. At about the same time, Alice and Lizzie went out , too. They met at the clubhouse.
Mag wanted to do something special for Molly, but couldn’t think of what. All the girls were thinking really hard until they saw Mr. Willis park his car in front of the house. They all ran to watch him.
Mr. Willis was a baker who often brought leftover mocha cake to Mr. Tonk to help him feed his hens. He handed the bag of cake to Mr. Tonk, then left. Mr. Tonk put the bag in the chicken coop where he kept the other feed.
“ Let’s have a party!”, shouted Alice. “ We could have it in the hen house. We could eat the mocha cake. Let’s look for some soda bottles to cash in to get the deposit money to buy the other things we need. “
“ What a great idea”, shouted Mag and Lizzie.
So the girls went everywhere looking for empty soda bottles. They got their wagons and started collecting. They asked their friends, looked in the gutters, and in their own homes. When they had enough they brought them to the variety store at the corner. They got $5.00 for them. With the money,, they bought ice cream, balloons, and candy. They quickly hurried home to fix up the hen house. Alice put the ice cream in the freezer. Mag got the cups, plates, and silverware from her house. Lizzie got a tablecloth. They met at the hen house. They moved some boxes to make a table and some chairs. They spread the tablecloth on the boxes. Balloons were blown up and hung abut the coop.
All the chickens were squawking as they didn’t know what was happening.
Finally the girls were done. As they rested on the grass, they saw a car drive by slowly. They ran to the front and saw it stop in front of the Splash house. When the car door opened, out stepped Molly.
Molly had long black hair in pigtails with red ribbons. She had on red pants and a pink jersey. Everyone hugged at once. Molly was so happy. She loved Mag so much and she always had so much fun.
After they brought her suitcases and other things to the house, they went out to play. They went in the direction of the hen house.
Alice ran to get the ice cream, while Mag put a blindfold on Molly. After Alice put the ice cream on the table, they helped Molly to the chicken coop. When she took off the blindfold,, they shouted, “ Surprise! Surprise!” Molly was so happy. They helped themselves to the food and sat down to eat.
The hens were confused . They only got crumbs from the mocha cake. After the girls cleaned up, Lizzie said she had a surprise tied outside for everyone
To a string hanging upside down from a branch of a tree was a huge balloon filled with candy and gum. Thy took turns wearing the blindfold and hitting it with a stick. Molly gave a good whack and it exploded. Candy and gum went flying everywhere. They scampered to find them. They sat on the grass and roared with laughter.
They heard their parents call. for supper. None of the girls wanted to eat. Their mothers thought they were ill as the girls loved to eat. Their fathers checked to see if they has a temperature, but of course, they didn’t. The girls knew why they didn’t want to eat. They had had a fantastic party for Molly.
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