The Mystery of the Birthday Basher

know the answer.
“Not exactly ruined,” Ziggy replied. “We went out for dessert instead and we sang the birthday song at the restaurant and she seemed happy enough. But it wasn’t the same. You know what I mean?”
Amirah nodded. She knew what Ziggy meant. “Something is definitely going on,” she announced. “And I think—I think we’ve come here to fix it.”
“Really?” Mei asked.
“I just have this feeling,” Amirah replied.
Mei, Elvis, and Olivia exchanged a knowing look. When Amirah had a feeling about something, they took it very seriously.
“Tell us,” Amirah said suddenly as she turned to Ziggy and Lacey. “Tell us all about Sparkle City. Everything you can remember! What it looked like, sounded like, smelled like—”
“Smelled like?” Elvis cracked in a funny voice.
But Amirah wasn’t joking around. “Everything,” she repeated.
“It was glorious,” Lacey said, searching for the right words. Then she shook her head and shrugged. “And utterly indescribable.”
Amirah understood. Some things in the Magical Land of Birthdays had to be seen to be believed.
“I think that’s where we need to go,” Amirah said.
“But why?” Ziggy asked. “Just curious. Why back to Sparkle City? There were no troubles there. But the countryside—well, I don’t want to criticize, but it’s seen better days, hasn’t it? Look—there’s more trash over there.”
“Yes,” Amirah acknowledged, bending down to pick up more scraps of paper. “And maybe Sparkle City has too. See, I have this theory . . .”
The other B-Buds stepped closer to her.
“What’s going wrong in the Magical Land of Birthdays isn’t new,” Amirah said. “In fact, I think it’s been happening for a while. I think it’s why you two landed in Sparkle City while the rest of us were in the countryside. I think it’s why Ziggy’s cake was confused about not being able to find Ziggy. What if we were supposed to meet six months ago? What if we were supposed to spend our birthday together—not apart?”
No one spoke.
“I’ve seen the countryside twice now,” Amirah continued. “I know how it’s changed. But I dreamed about the Magical Land of Birthdays the other night—and honestly? It was more like a warning than a dream—”
Mei shivered. “Don’t say that,” she whispered.
Amirah paused to wrap her arm around Mei’s shoulders and give her a hug. “Don’t be scared,” she said. “We’re in this together. We’ll fix it—no matter what it takes.”
Elvis glanced around. “I’d like to go to Sparkle City,” he said. “I want to see everything there is to see in the Magical Land of Birthdays!”
Lacey and Ziggy exchanged a glance. “Well . . . we don’t know how to get there from here,” Ziggy began.
“We don’t even know exactly where we are,” Lacey added.
“The map!” Mei suddenly cried. She turned to Amirah. “Did you bring the map?”
“No,” Amirah admitted. “I’m sorry, B-Buds. I should’ve thought to grab it!”
“Don’t worry about it,” Elvis assured her. “We’ll find our way there. We’ll use birthday magic if we need to.”
Amirah flashed him a grateful smile. “Ready, B-Buds?” she asked.
“Lead the way!” Ziggy cheered her on.
Amirah was about to take a step when she realized that there wasn’t even a path to guide them. They’d have to push their way through the dry grass . . . and hopefully not get lost along the way.
“I do remember that Sparkle City was high up,” Lacey said suddenly. “It felt like we could look out and see all of the Magical Land of Birthdays spread out below us.”
“Okay, then. That’s where we’ll start,” Amirah said. Then she began to climb up the hillside.
It seemed to get hotter and hotter as they walked, and Amirah could feel her face growing red from the heat.
Suddenly Olivia spotted something. “What’s that—over there?” she asked. “It looks like a pond.”
Amirah caught a glimpse of it through the tall grass. The smooth, shiny surface reflected the cloudless gray sky. “Yes!” she cried. “Let’s go splash around in it! Come on!”
She took off running toward the pond with the B-Buds close behind her. She could just imagine how cool and refreshing it would feel to splash in the water. But when Amirah reached it, she felt a stab of disappointment. It wasn’t a pond at all. Just a shiny piece of cellophane wrapping paper that someone had left behind. More trash, Amirah thought in disappointment.
“Well, that’s not what we were expecting,” she told the B-Buds. “Oh well! At least we won’t lose any time on our journey to Sparkle City. I probably would’ve splashed around for, like, an hour!”
“Hold on,” Ziggy said, kneeling beside the cellophane to get a closer look. He peeled up the edge and pulled off a sheet of shiny cellophane with a crinkling sound—only to reveal another sheet of cellophane beneath it. Then another, and another, and another. “What do you think this is, anyway?”
“Part of a present-wrapping station?” Olivia guessed.
“But where’s the tape? The scissors? The ribbon? And especially the other kinds of wrapping paper?” Mei pointed out.
“Good point,” Olivia said.
Meanwhile, Ziggy kept peeling away layer after layer of cellophane. “Sorry, B-Buds,” he said, peeling faster and faster. “I’ve got to get to the bottom of this!”
“We can all help,” Elvis said.
The other B-Buds crowded around the cellophane and started peeling away sheets of it. Then, without warning, they reached the last one—and uncovered the lid to a box.
“Should we open it?” Mei asked.
“Yes,” Amirah said firmly. “Absolutely!”
Mei reached forward and inched the tight-fitting lid off the box, one wiggle at a time. When it finally came off, it released a cloud of dust into the air that made all the B-Buds sneeze.
It only took Amirah a moment to realize what was inside the box.
“Treat bags!” she cried. “Party favors!”
She pulled out a few of the striped bags and passed them around.
“They’ve been there for a long time, huh?” Olivia asked as she traced the letter O in the dust coating her treat bag.
“Maybe they were leftovers,” Amirah suggested—but even she didn’t believe that. There were too many of them. It was almost like they had been prepared for a party that had never