The Magical Land of Birthdays

by Amirah Kassem

  “I’ve played a lot of guitars before, but I’ve never seen anything like that,” the boy continued, shaking his head in astonishment.

  As the sunlight glinted off his hair, Amirah tilted her head and looked at him. He seemed so familiar, but she definitely didn’t know him from home.

  Suddenly, Amirah gasped. “I know you!” she exclaimed. “You were in my dream!”

  “Your dream?” the boy repeated.

  “Yes! I dreamed about this place the other night!” she cried. “And you were there!”

  “You look familiar to me too,” the boy said. “I wonder if—”

  “Did you dream about this place?” Amirah asked eagerly.

  The boy shrugged. “I don’t know. I never remember my dreams.”

  Amirah’s intuition tingled. She couldn’t explain why, but she felt sure that he had dreamed about this place, just as she had.

  “By the way, I’m Elvis,” the boy said.

  “Elvis? Like the musician?” Amirah asked.

  “That’s who my parents named me after,” the boy replied, his face lighting up in a proud grin. “Which is cool since I’m a musician too!” Elvis paused and his cheeks flushed a bit and Amirah noticed he suddenly looked unsure of himself. “I mean, I love music and I want to be a musician. Maybe someday I’ll be a professional . . . but until then, all I can do is practice.”

  “My name is Amirah,” Amirah replied. “And I say, if you love music and you play music, then you are a musician!”

  Elvis grinned shyly, the unsure expression slowly fading from his face. “Sounds good to me! So yeah, I am a musician! What about you, Amirah?”

  “Hmmm . . .” Amirah chewed her lip as she considered the question. “I love to bake, so I’m a baker! And I love dancing, so I guess I am a dancer too . . .” Her voice trailed off, and she shrugged. “I like all sorts of things! I definitely like music too. It’s so cool that you are a musician!”

  Elvis nodded as the grin on his face grew wider. Amirah had a feeling they were going to be fast friends.

  “Do you know where we are?” Amirah asked a moment later.

  “No idea,” Elvis said as he looked around. “But I like it!”

  “Me too,” Amirah said. “Should we—explore a little?”

  “Sure,” Elvis said. “Though I don’t know how to top a guitar made of cake.”

  “Try frosting,” Amirah joked.

  It took Elvis a second to get it, but when he did, he burst out laughing. “Good one,” he said.

  They cut through the meadow to a path paved with sprinkles. Amirah absentmindedly reached into her pocket and wrapped her fingers around the small container of sprinkles, relieved that it hadn’t fallen from her pocket when she’d been transported here. She had a feeling it might come in handy.

  The path made a sharp turn, and as they rounded the curve, Amirah noticed a field of giant strawberries. The scent of sun-warmed berries filled the air. It smelled so delicious that Amirah couldn’t help breathing in so deeply that she made herself a little dizzy.

  And there was a girl, right in the middle of the field, bouncing up and down on the giant strawberries. She was somersaulting high into the air without a care in the world. In her hand she held a long purple streamer that flitted and fluttered through the air. Her short, glossy black hair was pulled into two pigtails that bobbed along with her every movement.

  “Look at her go,” Elvis cried, pointing to the girl. “It’s like she’s dancing in a bouncy house strawberry field!”

  “I know her,” Amirah whispered.

  “From your dream?” he asked.

  Amirah nodded. She couldn’t wait to meet this girl, but at the same time, she hated to interrupt her. The girl danced and bounced with such grace and ease that she looked like a gymnast and a ballerina combined.

  It turned out that Amirah didn’t need to interrupt her after all. At that moment, the girl glanced over. She definitely noticed Amirah and Elvis, but she continued her routine to the very end of the field, where she somersaulted and landed right in front of them.

  “Hi! I’m Mei,” she said, waving. “Are you visiting too?”

  Amirah and Elvis exchanged a glance, then introduced themselves. “Um . . . I guess we’re visiting,” Amirah told Mei. “Though I don’t really know where we are.”

  “I don’t either, but I love it here,” Mei announced. “It’s not like anywhere I’ve been in Japan before.”

  “Is that where you’re from?” Amirah asked her.

  Mei nodded.

  “Wow,” Amirah replied. “I’m from Mexico.”

  “Is that where we are?” Mei asked.

  “No, I don’t think so,” Amirah said.

  “Well, I’m from the United States, and we definitely aren’t there,” Elvis spoke up.

  “So your routine was pretty amazing,” Amirah said a few moments later. “You are such a good gymnast!”

  “Thank you!” Mei exclaimed. “I love gymnastics! It’s my thing!” Mei bounced on her toes in excitement. “What about you? What are you both into?”

  “Oh, I love to bake,” Amirah replied. “And dance . . . and I have a ton of hobbies actually! Elvis over here . . .” Amirah looked at Elvis and gave him an encouraging smile.

  “I’m a musician,” Elvis said finally.

  “That’s so cool.” Mei nodded. “Nice to meet both of you!”

  Just then, a swarm of shimmery butterflies fluttered up from the field. As they flew overhead, they dusted Amirah, Mei, and Elvis with a sprinkling of glitter.

  Amirah laughed with glee. “This is the coolest birthday ever!” she exclaimed.

  Mei and Elvis turned to her, wearing matching expressions. Amirah couldn’t quite name it . . . they looked surprised, or stunned, or maybe even shocked.

  “Today is your birthday?” Elvis asked slowly.

  Amirah nodded.

  “But it’s my birthday!” Mei exclaimed. A wide smile of delight crossed her face. “Wow! I’ve never met anyone with my birthday before. That makes us birthday twins!”

  “Triplets,” Elvis said.

  “Wait a second,” Amirah said. “You mean it’s your birthday too?”

  Elvis, grinning, nodded.

  “This can’t be a coincidence!” Amirah said. “I mean, what are the odds that the three of us all end up in this fantastic land—and we all just happen to have the same birthday?”

  “Happy birthday, by the way,” Elvis said.

  “Happy birthday!” Amirah and Mei replied at the same time.

  “We’re the Birthday Buds,” Amirah declared. “The B-Buds!”

  “B-Buds,” Mei repeated. “I like it. I like it a lot.”

  “Happy birthday, B-Buds!” Elvis sang, pretending to play an air guitar.

  “What are you doing to celebrate back home?” Amirah asked. “My mom and I made the most incredible cake this morning. It’s shaped like a unicorn, with all these rainbow frosting swirls for the mane and a shimmery golden horn, and inside . . . well, you kind of have to see it to believe it, but inside there’s a special surprise!”

  “That sounds amazing,” Mei replied. “I have a special cake too. My oba-chan makes it every year! It’s a strawberry shortcake, made of sponge—”

  “Sponge?” Elvis asked, wrinkling his nose.

  “Sponge cake,” Amirah explained. Then she glanced over at Mei. “Right?”

  “Exactly right,” Mei replied. “Oba-chan brushes it with sugar syrup and layers it with fresh whipped cream and the most beautiful strawberries you can imagine!”

  “Like those, I bet,” Amirah said as she gestured at the field.

  “Yeah—kind of,” Mei said. “The strawberries back home aren’t quite so big, though!” Then she turned to Elvis. “Do you have a special birthday cake?”

  “Mmm-hmm. Peanut butter and banana,” he said.

  “I’ve never had peanut butter and banana cake before,” Amirah said. “Peanut butter and banana sandwiches, yes . . . peanut butte
r and banana cake, no.”

  “It’s soooo good,” Elvis told her. “The cake is like banana bread, but fluffier, and the frosting—that’s my favorite part—is like really sweet, creamy peanut butter. I could eat it every single day!”

  Suddenly, Amirah saw something across the strawberry field, where a lone candy-apple tree grew. She felt that same strange tingly feeling, as if sprinkles were cascading down her spine.

  There was a figure, standing alone, watching them.

  Amirah’s voice dropped to a hush. “Do you see that?” she asked her new friends.

  “Is that a person?” Mei asked.

  Amirah nodded. “I think it’s a girl,” she started to say.

  Then something incredible happened. The girl—whoever she was—flickered, as though she were made of light that had started to dim. Just as quickly, she appeared solid again. But that flickering—

  Amirah was sure she’d seen it, and from the looks on her friends’ faces, she knew they’d seen it too.

  “I know her!” Amirah said. “I saw her in my dream!”

  Without another word, Amirah took off running across the strawberry field, weaving through the long rows of plants and even leaping over some of them. She heard footsteps thundering behind her and felt a pulse of gratitude in her heart. She should’ve known that Elvis and Mei would follow her.

  After all, that’s what friends are for.

  As she got closer, Amirah got a better look at the girl. She had long blond hair that had been twisted into a braid, and she was wearing a sundress that seemed to change colors when she moved. A sense of sadness hung over her like a shadow.

  “Hey,” Amirah called. “I want to—”

  When the girl looked up, their eyes met. Amirah was struck by the sorrow in the girl’s gray-green eyes.

  “Please . . .” Amirah said breathlessly.

  The girl slipped around the other side of the tree. Amirah caught a glimpse of her dress, flickering—

  But by the time she reached the candy-apple tree, the girl was gone.

  Amirah leaned against the grooved tree trunk and realized it was made of chocolate. She absentmindedly broke off a piece of chocolate bark and began to nibble at it. So many questions swirled through her head, it was hard to keep track of them all.

  “Did you find her?”

  Amirah glanced up to see Elvis and Mei standing nearby. She shook her head. “I got pretty close,” she replied. “Close enough to look into her eyes. But she . . . disappeared . . .”

  “Like . . . vanished?” Mei asked incredulously. “Into thin air?”

  “Yes and no,” Amirah said. “I mean, I guess it’s possible. But she might’ve run away instead.”

  “But why?” Elvis asked. “I mean, you’re not exactly scary, you know?”

  “Thanks.” Amirah chuckled. “She definitely didn’t want to talk to me. She just . . .”

  When Amirah’s voice trailed off, Mei nudged her. “What?” she said.

  “I don’t know.” Amirah sighed. “She just seems so . . . so . . . so sad. She seems like she needs a friend.”

  Everyone was quiet for a long moment.

  “It doesn’t seem fair that she feels so sad in such an incredible place,” Mei finally said.

  “I know, right?” Amirah said. “This place is made of pure joy—”

  “And sugar!” Elvis cracked.

  “Yes, joy and sugar,” Amirah said, laughing again. Then a new thought struck her, making her laughter fade away. “Oh no.”

  “What’s wrong?” Elvis asked.

  “Do you think it’s her birthday too?” Amirah asked. “Is she one of the B-Buds?”

  From their silence, Amirah could tell that Elvis and Mei hadn’t thought of that either.

  “No one should be miserable on their birthday,” Mei said firmly. “It should be against the law!”

  “I agree,” Amirah said. “A birthday is special . . . perfect . . . a day to celebrate being born. Being here!”

  “Not just here, though,” Elvis said a moment later. “But also being at home.”

  “Being with family.” Mei nodded.

  “And being with friends,” Amirah added. “Friends. Maybe that’s it. Maybe she needs a friend.”

  “If it’s her birthday too, she definitely needs her B-Buds,” Mei said.

  “Definitely,” Amirah agreed. “So that means we have to find her.”

  “She could be anywhere, though,” Elvis said. “Where do we start?”

  No one could answer his question. Wherever they were, the land was big and broad, stretching as far as the eye could see in every direction. Amirah sat down with a sigh and started drumming her fingers on the ground. Should they go back to where she’d started? Forge ahead into the places unknown? Keep following the trail?

  Zbp. Zbp. Zbp.

  Amirah’s fingers stopped moving.

  Zbp. Zbp. Zbp.

  There was a faint trembling happening under the ground. Amirah could barely hear it—she could barely feel it—but somehow, she knew it was there.

  Zbp. Zbp. Zbp.

  Amirah leaned closer to the ground, and that’s when she saw it: a smattering of sprinkles, vibrating in time with the trembling she sensed. Instinctively, she reached for her little container of sprinkles, just in case she’d accidentally spilled some.

  But it was still in her pocket, the lid screwed on tightly as always.

  That meant the sprinkles, wherever they’d come from, were part of this place—this mysterious, magical place.

  Zbp. Zbp. Zbp.

  Amirah tilted her head and squinted as she stared at the sprinkles. They were still moving, yes—but not randomly. It was almost as if they were moving with purpose.

  Zbp. Zbp. Zbp.

  With every pulse, the sprinkles moved closer together. Closer. Closer.

  Amirah didn’t realize she was holding her breath until she suddenly gasped.

  The sprinkles had formed the letter F, as clear as day.

  That wasn’t all. The ground was still trembling.

  And the sprinkles were still moving.

  “Look!” Amirah cried. “A letter! No—it’s a-a-a word!”

  In a flash, Mei and Elvis knelt on the ground beside her. The three friends sat in expectant silence, watching as the sprinkles shifted, until at last Amirah could see what they were trying to say.

  “Find!”

  The instant Amirah said the word, the sprinkles broke apart, scattering to the edge of the clearing. Oh no! she thought. What had happened? Had she broken the spell?

  “I don’t understand,” Elvis cried. “Find what?”

  “Shhh!” Mei hushed him.

  The sprinkles were already moving again.

  They inched across the clearing, trembling and twitching, and began to form a new set of letters.

  “C,” Amirah whispered.

  “A,” Mei said.

  “R,” Elvis said.

  “A,” Amirah said. “Cara!”

  Once again, the sprinkles split apart.

  “Find Cara,” Amirah said. “Who’s Cara? Is that the girl’s name?”

  “Look,” Mei cried. “The sprinkles are moving again!”

  “T-h-e,” Elvis said. “Find Cara the—”

  “The what?” Mei asked. “That makes no sense. What does that even mean?”

  “I have a feeling,” Amirah said as the sprinkles danced into a new formation, “that we’re about to find out.”

  U-N-I-C-O-R-N.

  “Find Cara the Unicorn!” Amirah exclaimed.

  A sudden gust of air blew through the clearing, lifting the sprinkles up into a cloud of sparkles. They swirled away until even the last sparks had faded from view.

  “Find Cara the Unicorn,” Amirah said again. She had hoped that the sprinkles would explain everything, but they’d left her feeling only more confused.

  “Does that mean that there are unicorns here?” Mei asked, her eyes wide.

  “I guess so,” Amirah said sl
owly. “I mean, when you think about it, a unicorn wouldn’t be the most unusual thing we’ve seen today. Right?”

  Elvis jumped to his feet. “Why are we just sitting around?” he asked. “The sprinkles said we’ve got to find Cara the Unicorn. So let’s go!”

  “We need a plan,” Mei pointed out. “We can’t just run all over the place, like we’re on a wild goose chase.”

  “Or a wild unicorn chase,” Amirah said. To be honest, she thought that both her friends were right. But it was impossible to make a plan when they knew so little about this strange and magical place. Should they venture into the shadowy forest? Or continue along the path that had led them to Mei?

  “Let’s go back to the candy-button path,” Amirah finally suggested. “It has to lead somewhere. Maybe if we explore a little, we’ll find out more about where we are.”

  “And maybe we’ll even find Cara the Unicorn,” Elvis said.

  “Or the girl!” Mei added.

  The friends hurried out of the strawberry field and back to the path. They began to run together, laughing and shrieking in the warm sunlight as the path twisted and turned. As they ran, Amirah noticed that the candy buttons changed. They became larger and rougher, more uneven. The friends had no choice but to slow down as they crossed the rough terrain.

  “So much for the smooth path,” Elvis said. “I’m kind of missing those candy buttons.”

  “Me too,” said Amirah. “This feels like hiking in the mountains. You have to watch every step.”

  Mei’s gymnastics training made it easy for her to leap nimbly along the trail. “I think the candy buttons have turned into rock candy,” she said.

  “It really is a rocky road,” Amirah joked. The craggy candies were colorful but almost clear; they glinted in the sunlight as if they were flecked with mica.

  Ping!

  “Hey! Check it out!” Elvis yelled. The girls turned to watch him hop onto a rock.

  Ping!

  As Elvis stepped on it, the rock candy lit up and played a musical note.

  “Wow!” Amirah exclaimed. She and Mei jumped onto other pieces of rock candy, making the clear, crystal notes ring through the air like a bell. Soon the air was filled with a jumble of musical notes, ringing like wind chimes.