Every morning, five-year-old Debbie Davis woke up ready for pancakes. Not omelets or waffles or oatmeal or blueberry muffins, definitely not toast, but pancakes. According to Debbie, the secret to a good day was making a happy face on her pancakes with breakfast food. Debbie believed that if her pancakes smiled, her day would smile back.
There were many ways to make faces on pancakes, so it never got boring. Bananas, kiwi, oranges, blueberries, and of course chocolate chips could be used for eyes. On some mornings, Debbie used sunny-side-up eggs as eyes on her pancakes. Strawberries were best used for the nose, along with cherries, pears, or a clump of raspberries.
Sometimes a pat of butter could be used as a nose, although it would eventually melt. Whipped cream with a bunch of chocolate chips and sauce made a wonderful smile.
Sitting at her kitchen table, Debbie looked at her pancakes, almost as big as the plate.
“I’m hungry!” she said to the pancakes as she poured glistening maple syrup over the hot stack.
No matter what the day would bring, Debbie always tried to start it with a smile on her pancakes. That way, she could usually keep smiling throughout the day, even if it was a hard one.
“Smile as big as you can!” she said, deciding how to construct a face on her cakes. She positioned her sunny-side-up eggs as the eyes.
“Yellow googly eyes taste so good!” she said. She thought about using whipped cream and chocolate chips for the mouth when her mom set a plate of bacon on the table.
“Now for some bacon,” her mother said, kissing her on the cheek.
“Bacon makes a beautiful smile,” her father said, “but not as beautiful as yours.”
“It’s crunchy and salty, not as sweet as fruit or candy,” Debbie said, bending the bacon into a grin anyway. It was the perfect smile.
Depending on the nearest holiday, Debbie used special treats for pancake smiles. Peppermints in winter. Candy corn in fall. During the Fourth of July, she made a red, white, and blue grin from ear to pancake ear with pastries and food coloring.
If Debbie ever ran late and could not make a pancake smile, it was never a good day. On those days, she came home from school upset or quiet.
One afternoon, Debbie dropped her backpack on the floor and crossed her arms. “I missed my spelling word,” she said. “And I spilled paint on my picture. I don’t like school today.” Debbie knew she should have made her pancakes smile that morning.
The next day at lunch, Debbie told her friends about her magic pancakes. “If you’re sad,” she whispered, “make happy face pancakes. They work every single time.”
“Sssh! It’s a secret,” she added. When her friends didn’t believe her, Debbie invited them over for pancakes for dinner.
“Hooray! I don’t have to eat leftover lasagna,” Debbie said, hugging her friends.
Even vegetables could make happy faces with stacked whole-wheat pancakes. Broccoli, squash, peppers, and carrots made large, glowing eyes. A big sausage made the best dinner pancake nose. Green beans, spinach, or peas carefully placed could form a wide smile.
“I can’t believe the magic of Happy Face Pancakes!” her friends said, asking for seconds. Debbie could tell they had a good night after eating them.
“If you know someone who feels sad or blue,” Debbie said, “share the magic.” She smiled as wide as her pancakes, knowing that some smiles were even better when they were shared.
Copyright 2015 Jennifer Waters
LOGLINE
A five-year-old girl believes that starting her day with smiling pancakes can shape everything that follows, and when she learns to share her joyful breakfast ritual with friends, she discovers that happiness grows best when it’s passed along.
PITCH
Every morning, five-year-old Debbie Davis begins her day by creating a happy face on her pancakes, convinced that a smiling breakfast leads to a smiling day. Using fruit, candy, bacon, and even vegetables, Debbie’s pancake faces become a joyful ritual that carries her through school and life’s little disappointments. When she skips her pancake smile one morning and has a rough day, Debbie realizes just how important her ritual has become. She soon shares the secret of her “magic” pancakes with her friends, inviting them over to make happy faces of their own—and discovering that the greatest magic of all is sharing kindness, creativity, and joy with others.
No comments:
Post a Comment