The Magical Land of Birthdays

bats.
“This is so cool!” he cried.
“As cool as this is, what if these turn into real bats?” Mei wondered, biting her lip.
Amirah didn’t think that would happen, but she could tell Mei was nervous. “We should probably keep moving anyway,” she said, smiling at her B-Bud and putting the wands back where they had found them.
“Let’s see if we can get one of those torches down,” Elvis suggested a moment later. “We can carry it through to the other side of the tunnel.”
Elvis reached up and tried to pry one of the candle-torches off the cave wall, but all he got for his trouble was a handful of melted wax.
“Well, that was a failure,” Elvis said as he peeled the colorful wax off his palms.
With a flicker and a fizzle, the candle-torches unexpectedly burned out.
“Uh-oh,” Mei said as the B-Buds were plunged into darkness once more.
“They may be bigger than regular birthday candles, but they still burn out pretty quickly,” Elvis said nervously.
“Let’s keep going,” Amirah encouraged them.
“Are you sure?” Mei exclaimed. “It’s just as dark as it was before—except now we know there are bats and who knows what else!”
“Bubble bats,” Amirah gently reminded her. “Look, I know it’s dark and we can’t exactly see anything, but when we needed light before, it just sort of . . . appeared. Let’s see if it happens again.”
“Okay,” Mei said. “But we shouldn’t go too much farther without any light. We don’t want to get lost in here and never find our way out.”
“I know,” Amirah said quietly.
The B-Buds took slow, careful steps in the darkness. Finally, Elvis said, “Amirah . . . did you hear that rustling noise?”
“The floor was covered in confetti, remember?” Amirah replied. “Just a little farther. It’s just like your bedroom at night. It can be a little spooky when you can’t see, but it’s still just your room, with all your stuff, and nothing scary. Just like that!”
“Just like that,” Elvis repeated. “Of course, there’s a night-light in my bedroom,” he joked. “A green gummy bear. But it’s not like I use it all the time . . .”
Amirah laughed. She was glad Elvis was being so brave even though he was scared. “I have a night-light too. A rainbow one!”
“Me three,” Mei added. “But mine’s a purple butterfly.”
The group walked a few more careful steps as they talked. Amirah could feel the tension in her B-Buds’ arms. She hoped they wouldn’t give up. The thought that they’d come so far, only to turn around and have to start over, made her even more determined to find a way through the pitch-black tunnel.
Then, without warning—whoosh!
“New birthday candle-torches!” Amirah exclaimed. “Look—you can see the old ones that burned out back there.”
“So, maybe if we keep going, even through the darkness, new candle-torches will keep lighting up,” Elvis said.
“Maybe we’re the ones who make them light up,” Amirah said. “Maybe they can, I don’t know, sense us approaching or something . . .”
“In that case, we’d better move fast,” Mei said, pointing at the birthday candle-torches. “These ones are burning out as fast at the others did.”
“Come on, B-Buds—run!” Amirah yelled.
The B-Buds forgot to be quiet as they raced down the path, reaching the next set of candle-torches right before the previous set extinguished. Amirah wished they could’ve gone more slowly; the mysterious cave seemed full of wonders that she longed to explore. But when she reminded herself of the girl, and how sad she looked, and how nervous the cave was making her friends, Amirah knew they had to hurry on. Don’t get distracted, she reminded herself. We’ve got to keep going!
At last, there was a glimmer of light in the distance that was stronger and brighter than the flames of the candle-torches. The B-Buds recognized it at once.
“Sunlight!” Amirah exclaimed.
“We’re almost at the end of the tunnel!” Mei added.
They paused to do a quick victory dance, then kept running.
“I can’t believe we made it!” Elvis announced as they finally reached the other side.
“Hey—hang on a minute,” Amirah said. “What’s that?”
The B-Buds had been so focused on getting through the tunnel before they lost the light that they hadn’t realized the trickling stream had widened along the way. At the other end of the tunnel, it had pooled into a small underground lake with an island in the middle.
On the island sat three beautifully wrapped presents.
“Do you think those are . . . for us?” Elvis asked.
“Three presents, three of us,” Amirah said. “And it is our birthday . . .”
“What if it’s a trap?” Mei asked.
Amirah shook her head. “Not in the Magical Land of Birthdays.”
“We already have the map, though. Shouldn’t we just keep going?” Mei asked. “Besides, who wants to wade through all that yucky mud?”
For Amirah, though, the lure of the presents was too strong.
“I don’t mind mud,” Amirah said. “Besides, I have a feeling it’s probably more like chocolate pudding.”
She took off her shoes and placed them by the side of the pond. It wasn’t deep at all, just barely past her ankles. “Here goes,” she said.
Squish. Squelch. Squish.
Amirah might have thought that Mei was right about the mud being yucky—except every step she took released the heady scent of chocolate. “This mud smells just like the filling for chocolate mud cake!” Amirah said.
“My friend Holden had chocolate mud cake at his birthday party last year!” Elvis exclaimed. “It was so good!”
Suddenly Amirah shrieked. “Eww! Something’s tickling my toes!”
“Is it a snake?” Mei exclaimed.
Amirah pulled her foot out of the pond and peeled something colorful off it. “No,” she replied. “Just a gummy worm.”
When Amirah reached the island, she knew it had been worth it. The three presents were topped with glittery gift tags—and the tags had their names. There was one for her, wrapped in pink sparkly paper; one for Mei, wrapped in purple polka-dot paper; and one for Elvis, wrapped in green-striped paper.
“Happy birthday, B-Buds!” Amirah exclaimed as she gave her friends their gifts.
Elvis opened his first. It was a shiny metal tube that could be extended several feet or collapsed