The Mystery of the Birthday Basher

by Amirah Kassem

  But Amirah knew that she had been very much awake.

  Gently—almost tenderly—she closed the cookbook and slid it under her pillow. She didn’t want to be separated from The Power of Sprinkles, not after what had just happened—or what she thought had just happened.

  As Amirah rested her head on her rainbow-striped pillowcase, she fell into a deep, restless sleep.

  And this time, she dreamed.

  In her dream, Amirah blinked—once, then twice—as a grin spread across her face. “I’m back,” she whispered joyfully. “I’m back!”

  The Magical Land of Birthdays stretched all around her, as far as she could see. But as Amirah looked around, her smile began to fade. She was in the Magical Land of Birthdays again—there was no doubt about that—but it wasn’t quite as enchanting as she remembered.

  In fact, it wasn’t very enchanting at all.

  Amirah’s nose wrinkled as she caught the scent of burned birthday cake drifting by on the breeze. She’d only smelled it once before, when an unexpected visitor prevented Mama from taking a cake out of the oven in time, but the harsh, charred smell was one she’d never forget.

  A heavy mist—mixed with a tinge of smoke—hung over the land, making the once-brilliant colors appear washed out and faded. The colorful cake pops lining the path made a sorry sight as their frosting oozed to the ground in fat, greasy droplets. Helium balloons in the sky began to droop, as if each one had sprung a leak at the exact same time. The streamers that decorated each tree had lost all their festiveness, flopping from the branches as if they’d been caught in a bad storm.

  A storm.

  Just as the word popped into Amirah’s head, a gust of smoky wind picked up. It whipped her hair around her face, and she quickly twisted it into a messy bun at the back of her head—just in time to see something: a faded scrap of paper carried on the wind.

  Instinctively, Amirah wanted to know what it was.

  It fluttered to the ground a few feet away, so Amirah left the path to pick it up. The soft green grass that she remembered growing in the Magical Land of Birthdays was dry and brittle now. It crunched under her feet and turned to powder with every step she took.

  She approached the piece of paper cautiously.

  Don’t be so silly, Amirah told herself. It’s just a piece of paper. It can’t hurt you.

  Soon she was close enough to see that there was something written on it. Could it be a message—a message for her? This wouldn’t be the first time the Magical Land of Birthdays had tried to tell her something.

  Something told Amirah that it was important. But still, for some reason, she hesitated. Just as Amirah reached out her hand—

  Whoosh!

  Another sudden gust of wind picked up the paper and carried it farther away!

  Amirah frowned. Now she was determined—completely and utterly determined—to read whatever was written on the paper. She didn’t dawdle this time. Instead, Amirah scrambled over the rocky hillside. Soon she was close enough to see the word BIRTHDAY written on the paper in bold, blocky handwriting. She reached out again and—

  Whoosh!

  This is getting ridiculous, Amirah thought as, once again, the paper fluttered just out of reach, landing in the crook of a wizened old tree. She raced the wind to reach it, hoping against hope that the tree’s rough bark would somehow keep it there until she could reach it. The wind was blowing harder now. It almost seemed to be pushing her forward, faster, faster, faster—until suddenly, there she was, standing in the shadow of the gnarled tree.

  The snippet of paper, still stuck in the tree, was just out of her reach.

  Amirah took a deep breath, crouched down low, and leaped into the air. Her fingers brushed the edge of the paper. She grabbed and grasped and closed her hand around it in a tight fist. Amirah didn’t trust that wind, with its eerie mist and stench of smoke. She wouldn’t let it take the paper away from her again.

  Amirah was so eager to see what the paper had to say that her hands trembled a little as she unfolded it.

  “An invitation!” she exclaimed, speaking aloud even though there was no one to hear her. It was in pretty bad shape, though. The bottom half of the birthday party invitation was missing, and it almost looked like it had been clawed or shredded. The color was faded to a muted, splotchy grayish red. She couldn’t tell whose party it was, or where it was supposed to be held. Besides the heading, which read YOU’RE INVITED TO A BIRTHDAY PARTY!, the only other part Amirah could read was the date—July 8, almost exactly one year ago.

  Maybe that was why the invitation was in such bad shape. The party had happened a long time ago.

  Or, Amirah thought, maybe there was another reason.

  Just like that, the invitation—or what was left of it—crumbled into sparkly dust in her hands.

  “No!” Amirah cried. But it was too late.

  The invitation was gone.

  She sighed heavily and looked around the empty landscape. That was when she realized the most unusual thing about the Magical Land of Birthdays: the silence. There was no laughter, no music, no happy birthday song. Just empty, hollow silence that blanketed the land as thoroughly as the mist.

  Amirah decided to climb the rest of the way up the hillside. It wasn’t very far. She hoped, at the top of the hill, she might be able to see more of her favorite place. Maybe she’d even be able to figure out where that burned smell was coming from.

  At the top of the hill, Amirah finally realized where she was. It was an area of the Magical Land of Birthdays that she’d never visited before—but she’d seen it on a map, and knew she’d never forget it.

  Sparkle City.

  With the smoky mist growing thicker by the minute, Amirah didn’t want to venture into that unfamiliar city all alone. She wished—and not for the first time—that her B-Buds were with her.

  Then, in a flash of inspiration, she suddenly realized that she wouldn’t have to go alone. Cara the Unicorn lived in the Magical Land of Birthdays! Amirah and Cara had shared a special bond from the moment they met, when Cara was stuck in piñata form and Amirah had freed her. They’d traveled the length of the Magical Land of Birthdays and back again. No matter what, Amirah knew, Cara would always come when Amirah needed her.

  “Cara!” Amirah’s voice echoed off the buildings as if the city were calling for Cara too. “Cara!”

  Amirah didn’t just listen for hoofbeats; she pressed her palms against the ground, hoping to feel it vibrating as Cara’s golden hooves thundered across the land. But the silence stretched on. Amirah called for Cara again and again, but there was no sign that the unicorn heard her.

  Amirah stood up, wrapped her arms around herself, and shivered—even though the day wasn’t particularly cold. There was no way for her to deny it any longer.

  No one was coming.

  Not her B-Buds.

  Not even Cara.

  With a gasp, Amirah bolted upright. She rubbed her eyes, and it took her a moment to realize that she was in her bed, in her room, in her house. The Magical Land of Birthdays was gone.

  It was just a dream, she realized in relief. But why did it feel so real?

  Was it because she’d been so upset about the missing birthday invitations?

  Was it somehow connected to the way the words in The Power of Sprinkles seemed to disappear right before her eyes?

  What did it all mean?

  Amirah shook her head, as if to shake away the last cobwebs of sleepiness and focus on the day that had just begun. She might not understand what her dream meant . . . and maybe it didn’t mean anything at all. But she had a birthday cake to bake—and just the thought filled her with excitement!

  Amirah hopped out of bed and changed into her favorite baking outfit: bright pink overalls and sky-blue high-top sneakers. She twisted a rainbow-striped scarf around her head so that her bouncy curls wouldn’t get in her face. And just like that, she was ready for her day!

  Amirah bounded downstairs to the kitchen, where her pare
nts, Mama and Baba, were enjoying their morning coffee. “Let’s get cooking!” she exclaimed as she opened the fridge and started pulling out the cold ingredients she’d need: butter, eggs, milk.

  Mama and Baba exchanged a grin.

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Mama asked.

  “Oops!” Amirah giggled. “Good morning!” She hurried over to give her parents a hug and kiss.

  “Good morning to you too,” Baba teased Amirah.

  “Thanks,” Mama said. “But what I meant was . . . breakfast!”

  “Right! I guess I forgot that too,” Amirah replied.

  “Let’s have quesadillas with fresh salsa,” Mama suggested as she stood up from the table. “By the time we finish eating, the butter will be softened—”

  “And we can start mixing Paulina’s cake!” Amirah finished for her.

  Mama was right, of course. By the time breakfast was over and the dishes washed and stacked in the drying rack, the butter was just squishy enough for mixing.

  “Let’s get baking,” Amirah cheered.

  “I can’t wait to see how this turns out,” Mama said as they got to work.

  The cake itself was fairly simple because Amirah was sticking to classic flavors that she knew Paulina would love—sweet vanilla cake with creamy vanilla frosting. But that was where the simplicity ended. The design Amirah had in mind for Paulina’s cake was truly spectacular, and like Mama, she couldn’t wait to see how it was going to turn out.

  After the cakes cooled, Amirah carefully cut a hole into the center of each layer. In this way, Paulina’s cake was similar to Amirah’s own unicorn birthday cake in that it would have a hole running through the center of it, top to bottom, once the layers were stacked. But this hole wasn’t going to be filled with sprinkles like Amirah’s special cake was. No, this cake was going to have a doll stuck into the hole in the center, up to her waist, so her torso, head, and shoulders peeked out the top of the cake.

  Amirah carefully shaped the cake to look like the skirt of a poufy dress and then iced and decorated it to look like the bottom half of a princess dress. With the doll poking out of the center, the overall effect was of a beautiful doll cake.

  “I think you’ve outdone yourself with this one,” Mama commented as she admired the finished cake. “It looks so beautiful!”

  “I think she’s going to love it.” Amirah grinned.

  Mama gestured to the extra cake batter left in the bowl on the counter. “What do you want to do with the leftover batter?”

  Amirah knew exactly what she wanted to do with it!

  “Mini cakes!” she cried. And sure enough, there was enough batter left over to make four mini cakes.

  While she waited for the mini cakes to bake, Amirah put Paulina’s cake in the fridge to give the beautiful frosting a chance to set. A brief image of the drippy cake pops from her dream flitted through her mind, but Amirah pushed the thought away. She was not going to let that happen to Paulina’s special cake!

  At last, Amirah—and the cake—were ready to go. She placed Paulina’s cake in a tall box and tied a shimmery pink ribbon around it with a big, poufy bow on top.

  In the car, Mama drove slowly and carefully, avoiding every bump in the road. Amirah used her legs to hold the cake perfectly still on the floor in the back seat of the car. She couldn’t wait to see the look on Paulina’s face when she peeked inside the cake box!

  “What if she’s not home?” Amirah asked Mama. “I should’ve called first!”

  “If she’s not home, we’ll take the cake back to the fridge and try again later,” Mama assured her.

  Amirah didn’t need to worry, though. Paulina was relaxing in a hammock with a book when they arrived at her house.

  “Amirah!” Paulina exclaimed happily. “What are you doing here?”

  “Happy birthday!” Amirah sang out. She presented the cake box to Paulina. “I have something special for you.”

  Paulina’s eyes brightened. “Is that what I think it is?” she asked in excitement.

  Mama and Amirah exchanged a secret smile. No matter what Paulina was imagining, Amirah was confident she couldn’t guess it was an extra-special cake that Amirah had created just for her.

  “Open it!” Amirah encouraged her.

  “Open it inside,” Mama added.

  “Yes! Out of this hot sun,” Amirah said with a laugh.

  “Now this is getting even more mysterious,” Paulina said. She led Amirah and her mother into the kitchen, where she placed the tall box on the counter. Paulina’s finger touched the silky ribbon. “It’s almost too pretty to open,” she said.

  “Trust me, what’s inside is even better,” Amirah told her.

  Paulina grinned at her friend, then held one end of the ribbon out to Amirah. “Let’s do it together,” she suggested. “On the count of three. One, two . . .”

  “Three!” both girls said at the same time as they each tugged on a different end of the ribbon. The poufy bow melted away as the ribbon slid off the box. Paulina lifted the lid and peeked inside. Her gasp of astonishment was better than Amirah had imagined.

  “Oh, Amirah!” Paulina breathed. “This can’t be a cake! It’s too beautiful! Way too beautiful to eat!”

  “Trust me, it’s going to taste even better than it looks,” Amirah said. “And the doll is yours to keep after you finish the cake—she’s the other part of your present!” Then Amirah reached out to give Paulina a big hug. “Happy birthday! I’m so sorry I missed your party.”

  Paulina waved her hand in the air like it was no big deal. “That’s okay,” she said. “It’s not your fault that you didn’t get the invitation. And guess what? You weren’t the only one.”

  “Really?” Amirah asked.

  Paulina nodded. “Yeah, three other people never got their invitations either,” she said, sighing.

  “That’s so weird,” Amirah said. “What do you think happened?”

  “I have no idea,” Paulina replied. “They were all addressed and stamped the same way. I left them all in my mailbox for the letter carrier to take. I can’t explain why some of the invitations were delivered and some of them just . . . disappeared.”

  Amirah was quiet. She didn’t have an explanation either.

  “But next year I’m going to take them all to the post office,” Paulina declared. “Or maybe I’ll even hand-deliver them.”

  “Hand delivery! That will guarantee that each invitation gets where it needs to go,” Amirah agreed.

  “And you know what my mother said?” Paulina asked. “That maybe the invitations just got delayed! She said sometimes the mail is late.”

  Amirah’s eyes went wide. It would be pretty frustrating to get a party invitation after the party had already happened . . . but at least that would solve the mystery of where her invitation was.

  “Thank you so much for this beautiful cake,” Paulina continued. “It’s so special.”

  “Just like you,” Amirah told her friend. “Happy birthday again. Next year, we will definitely celebrate in style!”

  “Definitely!” Paulina said.

  When Mama and Amirah got home, Amir had a stack of books for them to read together. “First, some lemonade,” Mama told him. “That way our throats won’t get too dry.”

  Amirah licked her lips. Mama was right, as usual. A cold glass of sweet lemonade would be perfect on such a hot summer day.

  “I’ll squeeze the lemons!” Amir exclaimed as he scampered toward the kitchen.

  “I’ll be right there to help,” Amirah told him.

  Just then, Amirah heard a scratching noise outside the front door, and the unmistakable squeeeeeak of the mailbox opening. Amirah loved to get the mail—she never knew what surprises might be waiting in the mailbox—and today, with Paulina’s words about late-delivered mail fresh in her mind, she was more eager than ever to check. So eager, in fact, that she didn’t even wait for the letter carrier to finish before she swung the front door open wide.

  “O
h!” Amirah exclaimed in surprise. It wasn’t the letter carrier at their mailbox. It was Billy, looking just as surprised as Amirah felt. Three small dogs sat at his feet, their leashes all tangled up.

  “Hi, Billy,” Amirah said. “What are you doing? I mean, what are you doing here?”

  Billy’s mouth opened, then closed before he said a word. Then he tried again. “I’m delivering flyers. For my dog-walking business,” he said. He shuffled from one foot to the other, then pressed a flyer into Amirah’s hand. “Here.”

  Amirah looked at the flyer, still surprised that Billy was at her mailbox. “But—we don’t have a dog,” she said.

  “Oh,” Billy replied. “Well, maybe you can give it to somebody who does.”

  He knelt down to untangle the leashes, making his dark hair fall across his eyes. “Bye,” Billy said. Then, with all the dogs yipping and yapping, Billy set off down the path to the sidewalk.

  Amirah stepped back into the cool living room and stared at the flyer. It was printed on red paper, with a cartoon drawing of a dog in thick black ink. Familiar, and yet not . . . almost as if she’d seen it in a dream . . .

  The Power of Sprinkles popped into Amirah’s mind just then. She stared at the flyer, but the words stayed steady. The letters didn’t tremble and fade. Of course they didn’t.

  But Amirah just couldn’t shake the feeling that all of it was somehow connected.

  “Mama?” she called. “I think I want to bring one of the little cakes to Mrs. Maria.”

  “Good idea!” Mama’s voice carried to Amirah from the kitchen. “She’ll love a sweet treat on such a hot day. And when you get back, we’ll have a tall glass of lemonade waiting for you.”

  “Thanks, Mama. Thanks, Amir,” Amirah replied. In the kitchen, she put the little cake on its own plate and then left for Mrs. Maria’s house.

  She wasn’t sure why she felt such a sense of urgency to visit Mrs. Maria. But Amirah knew she couldn’t wait.