Colorado and Adora love exploring the Old Town of Horsmarlonerpool.
And one of their favorite places to spend the afternoon is Cherrypie Arcade. The arcade is two rows of very small, and very old shops on Cherrypie Street, about ten of them on either side of the road - so twenty in all. And all painted in dark red paint, and all of them being under a glass roof that crossed the street so if it’s raining, you can walk outside from shop to shop, or cross the street, without getting wet.
The shops on Cherrypie Arcade might all look quite similar, all being so old, and so small, and so red, and all having small doors and small windows, but in fact they are very individual and different inside.
There’s Mr Bibbin’s newsagents. Mr. Peppercorn’s umbrella shop. Mrs Mendoza’s bric-a-brac shop. But Colorado and Adora’s favorite is Mrs Onions’ hat shop.
That’s because whenever whenever they went in there and tried on hats, they’d always come out feeling happy with brand new ideas for adventures. Mrs Onions didn’t mind you trying on the hats, even if you didn’t plan for buying one, so long as you were careful with them. And sometimes she’d even let you borrow a hat for free so you could walk about town with it on.
On this particular day, Adora had made a secret plan to head for Cherrypie Arcade because she could tell Colorado was worried about something. In fact, even when she suggested a trip to Mrs Onion’s hat shop, instead of being excited, Colorado had just shrugged and said “whatever you like”, whilst clearly thinking about something that was troubling him.
So when they got inside the hat shop, and had said hello to Mrs Onions, and had begun to explore and Colorado STILL wasn’t smiling, Adora turned to him and said “Come on… what’s the matter?”
Colorado sighed. He knew he should always tell people his problems, especially best friends like Adora, because it made them better. So feeling a bit embarrassed he said “My Dad’s having a big birthday party next week. It’s big special birthday and lots of people are going to be there.”
Adora was puzzled. “But what’s the matter with that? Why would that make you worried?”
“Because,” said Colorado. “I’ve been asked to make a speech. About Dad! In front of everyone! For five whole minutes! Mum’s insisting on it! What am I going to say? What am I going to do!”
Well Adora was surprised. She hadn’t been expecting that at all. It certainly was a problem. She didn’t know how to make speeches either.
“I tell you what,” she said. “Why don’t we both think about it after lunch. And then we’ll sort it out. But it’s not nearly lunchtime yet so we don’t need to think about it at all now. Okay?”
Colorado felt relieved. If that was their new rule then he really didn’t have to think about it right now. He felt like a huge heavy weight had been lifted from him.
“There are new hats towards the back there,” suggested Mrs Onions, as she walked past them.
Colorado and Adora explored. Adora found a top hat and passed it to Colorado. “Try this,” she said. Colorado put it on and Adora laughed.
“It looks great!” She said.
“You know,” said Colorado. “I could always say something about how Dad always falls asleep when he’s mowing the lawn, and just walks up and down the garden snoring.”
“Yeah, that’s not bad,” agreed Adora, trying on a trilby.
Colorado took off the Top Hat when he saw a big Stetson - a kind of cowboy hat - and put that one on instead.
“And I could say something about the time he climbed onto the roof to fix a tile and couldn’t get down and had to be rescued by a helicopter.”
Colorado saw another hat he liked, this time a straw boater, and put that one on.
“Ooh, and maybe I should talk about how coffee makes him burp?”
Adora suddenly looked up from the hats she was examining and stared at Colorado. “Um, would you mind if I came to you Dad’s birthday party?” she asked.
The next week, a huge marquee had been put up in Peacock Park and it was full of Colorado’s Dad’s friends and relations. They’d all had a lovely meal, including ice cream from Mister Dennis’ ice cream stall, but Colorado hadn’t been able to eat a mouthful. His speech was supposed to take place straight afterwards, and he was so sick with nerves that his stomach felt as tight as a ball of string.
“It’ll be fine,” mouthed Adora, who was on a table below the stage where Colorado and his family were sat.
Colorado’s mummy smiled and nodded to him, meaning it was time for his speech. And slowly Colorado got to his feet.
The whole marquee fell silent.
Colorado stared at them all. His mouth went dry. He couldn’t think of one thing to say. He’d forgotten all the things he’d prepared. He dug in his pocket for his notes, but they weren’t there!
All he could do was stare out at all the faces staring back at him.
“Um… my Dad,” began Colorado… but then his mind went blank.
“My Dad is…”
Adora thought this might happen, and reached under the table for her secret weapon: A bag full of hats that she’d borrowed from Mrs Onions’ shop. She pulled out the Top Hat, and threw it up to Colorado who put it on.
His mind suddenly sparked into life.
“It’s great being here in Peacock Park,” he began. “Although it’s a good job my Dad doesn’t have to mow it - he falls asleep mowing our garden. He’d be asleep for a whole year if he tried to mow this park!”
Everyone laughed and nodded in agreement.
Colorado’s dad laughed too! Adora threw Colorado another hat - this time the cowboy Stetson, and he put it on.
“Let’s just hope Dad stays in his chair for the whole party,” said Colorado. “We wouldn’t want him climbing up onto the roof and having to get rescued by helicopter again, would we!”
Everyone laughed and laughed. Colorado’s dad was laughing so hard he had to wipe a tear from his eye with his napkin.
Adora threw Colorado the straw boater hat and he put that one on. “And I think it would be best if Dad just had water after his meal whilst you have your coffees. I don’t think we want to hear what we all know happens when Dad has a coffee…”
Everyone was laughing so hard that Colorado had started to enjoy himself. And with every hat that Adora threw him, he had more and more things to say. Until, Adora run out of hats.
Then, Colorado stood there and no new jokes came into his head. But he was now so relaxed that he knew exactly what to say.
“But before I sit down,” he said to the crowd, and then turned to his daddy. “I want to say, Happy Birthday. And also that - I love you very, very much.”
Everyone stood to applaud. It had been the best speech they’d ever heard.
The next day, Adora brought the bag of hats back to Mrs Onions’ shop.
“Thanks so much for these,” she said, putting the bag on the counter.
“I’m sure they were helpful,” said Mrs Onions with a wink.
“They were,’ said Adora. “But Mrs Onions, could I borrow some more hats for myself? I want to write a magazine… but I don’t know what it’s about yet.”
“Oh, be my guest” said Mrs Onions, and Adora looked down the aisle at the hundreds of hats, and the hundreds of ideas for magazines.
