The Magical Land of Birthdays

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