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
