Page 78 - Nuts to You - The Nutcracker Retold

A Party She Could Do Without
A funny thing can happen when you are the guest of honor for a really, really, big party. Everyone is running here and there, getting this or that, fixing one problem or another, greeting a new guest at every turn, and in general being so busy making the party work that you’re left feeling like you’re on the outside, looking in.
Which was actually fine with Clara. As long as Mother Stahlbaum’s attention was on taffeta petticoats, silk satin slippers, and a never-ending array of buttons and bows, Clara was left alone in her window seat. And even though the cold night air made the spot chilly, Clara preferred her quiet corner to the absolute mayhem and madness that filled her room.
There were no less than – count them – seven dresses! And each one was a more complicated version than the last. Mother Stahlbaum had brought in a French seamstress, who had trudged up the mountain pass, complaining bitterly about the cold, and how chilblains would keep her from ever holding a needle again. (Just what the heck are chilblains? Oh, yuck! Here’s the definition: “Chilblains are
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