M Y O H

Make Your Own Hat. Or My, Oh!

918 WORDS

"There's just one teeny catch ..." Celia said.

"I knew it sounded too good to be true," Natasha sighed. "My favourite snacks, some really handsome guys, great venue - garden with fountains and all - well, give me the bad news."

"It's M.Y.O.H."

"It's what?"

"You know B.Y.O.B., don't you? Well, like that, it's M.Y.O.H."

"And that stands for ...?" Natasha asked.

"Make Your Own Hat," Celia muttered.

Natasha guffawed. Wiping the tears from her cheeks, she said, "I'm sorry, but for a moment there I thought you said I have to make my own hat."

"I did say that. You have to make your own hat. And have a video of it as proof you made it yourself. No self-made-hat, no entry."

"They've got to be kidding."

"They aren't. So you better start making the hat now, and I'll video you."

"You've got to be kidding."

"I'm not. What do you want to make it out of? Let's go and get the materials."

"You really mean this? I've got to make this hat?"

"Yes."

"What if I don't come for the party?"

"What if you don't meet Divya's handsome cousin or Ariel's handsome brother? What if you don't eat the delicious chocolate cake Kalyani made?"

"What are you making your hat out of?" Natasha asked, with a resigned shrug.

"Well, I like to make stuff, so I'm actually going to sew mine."

"If I were in a fun-pun mood I'd say you'll make a sew-sew hat, but I'm not in that mood," Natasha grumbled. "Now I am NOT going to sew."

"No, don't sew. Just put something together. Come, let's go to the stationery shop and get your stuff."

They bought some yellow card paper, some green card paper and some glittery gold paper that Natasha said she wouldn't use and Celia said she would. They bought glue and ribbon and paint and brush and crayon and stapler and staple-pins.

"B.Y.O.B. is cheaper, as it turns out," Natasha groused.

"I'll treat you to this art material. I'm going to enjoy making the video," Celia chirped.

They began.

Natasha took the first piece of yellow card, and a pair of scissors.

Two seconds later - "HEY! You're not going to put that in the video! Stop the camera!"

"Don't worry, darling, I laughed so hard my hands shook and everything is just a blur, see? Can't see what you did to that poor piece of card-paper!"

"And you won't tell anyone."

"Sweetie, if I did tell them they wouldn't believe me. Now here, start again, and this time don't --- oops, that's just what I told you NOT to do. Anyway, here's some sticky tape. It's double sided. Now I'm going to press the record button again and this time, try not to mess up."

(Twelve more attempts later)

"And so, ladies and gentlemen, there you have it. A nice green hat, a perfect cone, glued, stapled and sticky-taped with her own two hands, made by our own Natasha. And to embellish it, she has added just a touch of gold sparkle. Isn't it perfect?"

It was a wrap. Natasha had her hat, Celia had the evidence on tape - or rather on her smartphone.

"Delete those earlier ones," Natasha demanded, and stood breathing down Celia's neck till only the final, accepted video was left.

"I have to whatsapp it to Brinda," Celia said.

"It is the right one?"

"I'll copy it to you. Here goes."

"Got it. Yep, it's the right one. I only look like a bit of an idiot, not like an utter one. I still wish I didn't need to wear it to the party!"

Wear it she did, and got a lot of pats on the back for being such a sport. Avinash went as far as to call the hat 'nice'. Others were less extravagant in their praise of the headgear, but hearty in their compliments on the wearer's good nature. Natasha entered into the spirit of the party in more ways than one - there were bottles that hadn't had to be B.Y, and she laughed a lot and generally had a good time.

A good time, that is, until the prizes were announced.

"I didn't know there were going to be prizes," she said to Celia.

"Nobody did. I think Brinda decided at the last moment, because of the response!"

The response had indeed been good - as good as the chocolate cake had been. People had spent the evening decked in unbelievable objects on their heads. There was every conceivable material used, every imaginable colour, and some unimaginable decorations. There were Mad-Hatter hats, the Hogwarts Sorting Hat and Mary Poppins hats. There were big, small, medium, miniscule and gigantic hats. There were hats that looked like animals and hats that looked like trains and hats that looked like flowers and hats that even resembled hats.

So, Brinda had decided to award prizes.

The most creative hat award went to Dilshad. The most outrageous - Amrita. Most pretty - Rajen.

"And finally," Brinda called out. "The handsomest lad here has agreed to go on a date with the person who made the most attempts at a hat -- Parul, will you please come and accept this award for your five attempts at making a hat!"

"HEY!" Natasha called out. "I made a lot more than five attempts, I should get to date Raghava!"

"Oh, but I got only one video of you, Natasha. Send me the others quick and I'm sure Kalyan will spare an extra evening to take you out, too."