The Mystery of the Birthday Basher

by Amirah Kassem

  Before the song was half over, though, the world started spinning, and the colors around her started twirling and twisting into new shapes and patterns. She closed her eyes and waited for the spinning to stop, knowing she’d be home, safe and sound in her very own house once more.

  Except that’s not what happened. Not this time.

  When Amirah opened her eyes again, she was seated on a velvet throne in a dark, windowless room. A screen on the wall across from her flickered to life. She leaned forward, eager to see what would be revealed.

  There was a figure on the screen: Billy. He wasn’t in the Magical Land of Birthdays, though. Amirah had a feeling that she was watching him back in the real world.

  A crown—Billy’s crown—glinted on a shelf above his bed. And on his bed, a small brown dog was all curled up.

  “It’s going to be so great, Fiesta,” Billy said from his desk, which was cluttered with art supplies and stacks of red paper.

  There were striped treat bags too, which looked vaguely familiar to Amirah, though she couldn’t quite place them. Even the invitations Billy was making looked a little familiar, but Amirah was certain she’d never seen them before.

  She turned her attention back to Billy, who was busy writing something on a red piece of paper. “The best birthday party ever, right here in my own house, with my B-Buds from all around the world!” he was saying.

  Fiesta’s tail went thump-thump-thump.

  “Birthday magic can bring them here, I know it,” Billy said. “I feel it.”

  Amirah sat up a little straighter. She knew exactly the feeling he meant.

  “It won’t matter that they live all over the world when they get their invitations,” Billy confided in his dog. “My birthday magic is strong enough to bring them here. It’s strong enough to do anything!”

  Billy sat back and looked at the six invitations on his desk. He placed a handmade friendship bracelet on each one. Then a grin flashed across his face. “Almost forgot something!” he said as he reached for a jar of sprinkles. He added a smattering of sprinkles to each card as he tucked them into envelopes. “Like confetti, but better. Right, Fiesta?”

  Amirah smiled to herself as Billy popped a handful of sprinkles in his mouth before he sealed the envelopes. They had so much more in common than she would’ve thought. At least, they did—before he became the Birthday Basher.

  She watched the screen as Billy took his invitations outside and put them in the mailbox on the corner. “See you soon, B-Buds,” he whispered.

  Then he went home, whistling the birthday song.

  Amirah sat up a little straighter as the mailbox on the corner started to tremble. The sky got brighter and brighter. Then, in a flash of blinding light, all six invitations soared out of the mailbox!

  Wow, she thought in astonishment. Billy figured out how to use birthday magic in the real world! How did he do it?

  But as Amirah watched, the invitations didn’t split up to travel to Billy’s B-Buds around the globe. Instead, they flew, almost in formation, up into the sky, past the clouds, past the sun, until all the stars of deep space swirled into a kaleidoscope of colors . . .

  When the film came into focus again, Amirah realized that the special invitations hadn’t been delivered to Billy’s B-Buds after all.

  “The sprinkles,” Amirah whispered to herself. Somehow Billy had made a terrible mistake. The sprinkles he’d added to the envelopes hadn’t helped his invitations get to his B-Buds.

  They’d transported the invitations to the Magical Land of Birthdays instead!

  Amirah watched in horror as the invitations sat, untouched, on a rock. Then a breeze kicked up, blowing them onto the dirt. One of the invitations got stuck in the crook of a tree. The wind grew stronger and stronger until it tore part of the envelope, which fluttered away like a speck of confetti.

  Amirah gasped. She suddenly realized why the invitations had looked familiar: It wasn’t litter or confetti that Amirah and her B-Buds had been gathering all over the Magical Land of Birthdays.

  It was the shredded remains of Billy’s lost invitations!

  Before Amirah could fully grasp the seriousness of the situation, the image on the screen dissolved, and a new image appeared: a beautiful room that was all decorated for a party, with a long table that was filled with party favors, cookies, and a gorgeous sheet cake with gold frosting.

  “Where is everybody?” Amirah asked. From what she could see, there was only one guest at this party: Billy, who was wearing his birthday crown.

  He turned around in his chair, and that’s when Amirah saw his face. It was twisted into a terrible grimace of disappointment, rage, and despair. Billy’s joyful smile was gone, and his eyes looked small and mean. He sat completely still, staring at the empty chairs all around him.

  Without warning, Billy stood up. He lifted the entire cake—candles and all—and threw the whole thing into the trash with one fast movement.

  Amirah gasped in shock.

  But what happened next was even worse.

  “Stupid birthdays,” Billy muttered to himself. “Worthless, pointless, stupid birthdays!”

  Then he took off his crown—his perfect present—and threw it at the wall so hard that it cracked.

  There was a sudden whoosh, and Amirah found herself jerked from the velvet throne into a dark, windy tunnel. She might have been afraid, but she still had faith in birthday magic—and especially the power of sprinkles. As her fingers curled around the vial of sprinkles in her pocket, she saw the familiar bright streaks of colorful light. Her shoulders relaxed as she sighed with relief. Amirah knew where she was going now.

  Home.

  She found herself back in the kitchen, holding on to the counter to steady herself as she tried to make sense of everything she’d seen. So that was how the prince of the Magical Land of Birthdays had lost his birthday magic and turned into the Birthday Basher. It had seemed like such an impossible transformation before, but now that she’d seen Billy’s heartbreak, Amirah could understand . . . sort of. She thought of her own birthday parties with a pang of sorrow. Amirah loved a big party—the bigger the better! She invited everyone in her town, from the mayor to the principal of her school. She tried to imagine what it would feel like if no one showed up.

  She’d be devastated.

  I wonder if Billy even knows that he’s the Birthday Basher, Amirah thought. If he has any idea of what is happening in the Magical Land of Birthdays. What if his birthday magic is so powerful that when it turned into a force for darkness, it became unstoppable?

  Then she stopped.

  The trouble wasn’t just in the Magical Land of Birthdays.

  It was in her very own neighborhood.

  On her street.

  Perhaps, even, in her mailbox.

  Billy’s party invitations never arrived where they needed to go, Amirah thought slowly. Neither did some of Paulina’s invitations. And Mom mentioned Amir missing a party because of a lost invitation.

  Everything was starting to make sense, in the worst way. Billy was the neighborhood dog walker. He took long walks in the neighborhood twice a day. He had plenty of opportunities to peek into his neighbors’ mailboxes. And if he spotted a colorful birthday party invitation . . .

  And took it . . .

  And—what did he do next? Throw it away? Tear it to shreds?

  Amirah didn’t really want to know.

  With a sigh, she stood up and walked over to the fridge. She opened the door and stared at Billy’s special birthday cake. The golden frosting gleamed in the light of the fridge. A small, sad smile crossed Amirah’s face as she remembered the kind of cake Billy had tossed in the trash at his lonely birthday party.

  It was a carrot cake, of course. His favorite.

  Will a special birthday cake be enough to fix everything? Amirah wondered.

  She shook her head, as if to shake away all her doubts. You just have to believe, Amirah reminded herself.

  Then a new idea s
truck her. What if she left Billy’s cake in his mailbox? He’d been taking things from other people’s mailboxes. Maybe finding a special surprise in his own mailbox would help make things right.

  Amirah pulled Billy’s cake out of the fridge and studied it. The flat sheet cake was way too big to fit in a mailbox. But Amirah knew how to fix that.

  First, she whipped up a new batch of frosting. Then she sliced the cake into two equal halves and used the extra frosting to stack one half on top of the other. Making steady, careful cuts, Amirah trimmed the edges of the cake. Now, instead of a large, flat rectangle, it had more height. Using the gold paint, Amirah touched up the edges and sides of the cake. When she was finished, it looked like a solid-gold bar. It was truly fit for a prince.

  Amirah tucked Billy’s cake back in the fridge, then put the cake scraps on a plate and saved them for later. She had a feeling that this cake was too important to go to waste.

  Billy’s special birthday cake was ready at last. But there was one more thing that Amirah wanted to do. She hurried over to the closet where Mama kept all her sewing supplies and rummaged around until she found just what she needed: yarn in seven bright rainbow colors. Then Amirah carried the yarn up to her bedroom. There wasn’t a lot of time, but if she worked hard, she knew she could make seven rainbow-colored friendship bracelets in time for tomorrow.

  The next morning, Amirah woke with the first light. The big day was finally here—Billy’s birthday. This was Amirah’s chance to restore his faith in birthdays. To turn his birthday magic back into a force for good. And—hopefully—to save the Magical Land of Birthdays too.

  She got dressed quickly and made sure to put the friendship bracelets and her vial of sprinkles into her pockets. Then Amirah slipped downstairs, took Billy’s cake out of the fridge, and stepped outside.

  The sunrise made the golden frosting gleam brighter than ever. She walked quickly and quietly to Billy’s house, then put the cake in his mailbox and ran all the way home.

  Back inside, Amirah pressed her hand over her pounding heart and tried to catch her breath. That’s when she suddenly realized something: It wasn’t just Billy’s birthday. It was also her half birthday! She remembered the scraps of Billy’s cake that were still in the fridge and smiled to herself. Maybe eating a little cake on her half birthday could become a new tradition!

  As she served herself a plate of cake, Amirah couldn’t help thinking of her B-Buds all over the world. She had a feeling that they would remember it was their half birthday too. She wished she could see them. It didn’t feel right to celebrate even a half birthday without her B-Buds nearby.

  Just before she took a bite of cake, Amirah had an idea. She took the sprinkles out of her pocket and carefully selected one in each color: pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. Then—because it was their half birthdays after all—she broke each one in half and placed half of each sprinkle on her cake.

  Amirah took a big bite and grinned. This bite of Billy’s cake was even more delicious than the taste she’d had in her kitchen.

  But before she could take another bite—

  Whoosh!

  Back again, Amirah thought with a smile as she arrived, once more, in the Magical Land of Birthdays. It was early morning here too; pale pink light from the sunrise was spilling into the sky. Pink. Her favorite color. That seemed just right.

  Amirah stood up, brushed the dust off her clothes, and looked around. It was still too dark to see very far, but she had a feeling she wasn’t alone. “B-Buds?” she called. “Is anyone here?”

  There was a rustling in the darkness.

  “I’m here,” said a voice.

  “Me too,” said another.

  “And me.”

  “B-Buds!”

  There was a sudden burst of light from Ziggy’s watch—just enough for Amirah and her B-Buds to see one another. They all rushed forward at the same time and collided in a big hug. Everyone started talking at once until Lacey’s voice carried above the chatter.

  “Hey—hey!” she announced. “Let Amirah speak! I want to know what she learned about the Birthday Basher!”

  As the other B-Buds grew quiet, Lacey turned to Amirah. “Did you find him?” she asked. “Is it your neighbor?”

  So much had happened in the short time since she’d seen her B-Buds that Amirah hardly knew where to begin. The words tumbled out in a big rush as she told them everything she could remember—especially the part about how Billy transformed from the prince of the Magical Land of Birthdays to the Birthday Basher.

  There was another silence when Amirah finally finished.

  “So—what now?” Elvis asked with a note of hesitation in his voice.

  “I left the cake in his mailbox,” Amirah explained. “Hopefully, when he takes a bite, it will bring him here—”

  “Here?” Olivia repeated, her voice like a squeak. “He can’t come back here! He’s already done enough to ruin the Magical Land of Birthdays!”

  “Don’t you understand?” Amirah asked, holding her palms up. “The Unha—I mean Billy—has to come back here. I can’t think of a better place to restore his birthday magic to the way it used to be.”

  “We have bigger problems than Billy right now,” Mei said, pointing at the sky. “Look at those clouds!”

  All the B-Buds turned to look. Amirah had seen lots of different weather changes in the Magical Land of Birthdays, but these gathering clouds were unusually ominous. They looked dangerous, almost. The sky billowed with them, dark purple like smashed blackberries, as they swirled above—

  “That’s the Rainbow Forest,” Amirah said thoughtfully. She glanced sideways at Olivia, remembering how the B-Buds had found Olivia hiding in the Rainbow Forest when she was struggling with her own birthday disappointment last winter.

  Could Billy be there too?

  Were the clouds a manifestation of how his birthday magic had changed?

  Was their darkness drawn to him?

  There was only one way to find out.

  “Come on,” Amirah said as she started walking toward the Rainbow Forest. “Let’s find Billy.”

  No one else moved.

  “Hold on,” Mei said. “I think we should leave. I’ve never seen a sky like that before. It’s not safe here.”

  “If Billy ate his cake and returned to the Magical Land of Birthdays, why is it still so dark and dreary?” Ziggy pointed out. “And it’s only getting worse. What if he’s come back to destroy the land—forever?”

  Olivia shivered and rubbed her arms. “I don’t want to come back here again,” she said, glancing around anxiously. “It’s not the way it used to be. I don’t think it can be fixed.”

  “B-Buds,” Amirah said urgently. “Listen to me. We didn’t come back just to give up!”

  She rummaged around in her pocket, then pulled out the friendship bracelets she’d made. “I made one of these for each of you,” she said as she passed them out. “So that we can always be connected, even when we’re far apart.

  “Here’s the thing, though—we’re not far apart right now,” Amirah continued. “We’re together, and that doesn’t happen nearly enough. We’ve all come to the Magical Land of Birthdays, not on our birthday but on our half birthday. I think that’s important. I think it matters. I think we need to find Billy—together. ”

  Lacey twisted her new friendship bracelet around her wrist. “But, Amirah—how do you know it’s safe?” she asked.

  “I don’t,” Amirah said simply. “Sometimes, you just have to believe. And I’ll never stop believing in birthday magic, never, no matter what. If we don’t at least try to fix things, we’ll be giving up on birthday magic—just like Billy.

  “So . . . who’s with me?” she finished.

  There was a pause.

  Then Elvis clapped his hand on Amirah’s arm. “I am,” he said.

  “Me too,” added Lacey.

  Ziggy stepped forward. “And me.”

  Finally, Mei and Olivia spoke at the same time
. “Me too.”

  Amirah felt a surge of gratitude in her heart. “Let’s do this,” she said. “B-Buds together—forever!”

  The six friends set off for the Rainbow Forest. Overhead, the clouds grew thicker and more threatening. Thunder rumbled so close that it made the ground tremble. Not far away, the edge of the Rainbow Forest waited. The colors were completely washed out. All Amirah could see were different shades of gray.

  The B-Buds were silent as they stepped into the woods with Amirah in the lead. Deeper and deeper into the forest they traveled until Amirah stopped suddenly.

  Just ahead, there was a clearing that glowed with otherworldly light. It was hard to see the gathering storm that was brewing through the thick trees, but if Amirah had to guess, she would say they were right under the heart of it.

  “There,” she whispered to the B-Buds. “I think Billy’s in there. Come on.”

  Amirah took a few steps before she realized she was walking alone. She turned around to her B-Buds in surprise.

  “Aren’t you—” she began.

  Elvis’s smile was a little crooked. “We’ll be right here,” he promised, “if you need us. But I don’t think you will.”

  “But—” Amirah said.

  “It’s you. Don’t you know that? It was always you.” Mei spoke up. “You’re the one from the book—the one with enough birthday magic to stop the Birthday Basher. You’re the one with the power to fix this.”

  Amirah nodded slowly. In her heart, she hoped they were right.

  Then she reminded herself one more time: Believe.

  She took a few more steps into the clearing. As she got closer, she saw a lone figure sitting in the middle of the strange light. The light was shifting, changing. She realized that there wasn’t just one source for it but hundreds—maybe even thousands. It was one of the most enchanting sights she’d ever seen.

  “Billy?” she asked.

  The figure turned around.

  It was him—the Birthday Basher.

  It was Billy!

  A shy smile crossed his face.