Chapter 1

“We’ll bring him.” Riley heard herself talking in her sleep and woke up startled. She looked around her room but there was no one there.

Then she remembered and jumped out of bed and ran to the window. Today was her twelfth birthday and she planned a party with her friends in the park next door to the building where she lived. When she opened the curtains, she was dismayed. It was raining and the endless gray clouds added to her disappointment. Her mood turned from pink to gray like the color of the clouds rolling over the city.

From her parents’ fifth-floor apartment, the street below was wet and drab, and not a soul was out jogging or walking their dog. There was not going to be any fun in the park today. Her wish for a party was going down the storm drain, being flushed away by the rain.

Just as she was about to leave the window to sulk in her misfortune, she noticed a yellow car pull up to the curbside in front of her building. Out jumped her two friends, Sherri and Jesse. A smile spread over Riley’s face and she felt like the luckiest twelve-year-old on her special day.

From the bathroom, she heard her mom buzz in her friends to take the elevator. They always rode it up to the twelfth floor like a thrill ride before coming down to the fifth floor. That was Sherri’s idea, always the prankster putting Jesse on the spot. Sherri liked him a lot not because of his curly red hair, freckles, and green eyes, but because he was good at Minecraft.

The time it took to complete the thrill ride, gave Riley enough time to wash up, fix her hair, and put on her birthday dress. It was a Tinker Bell costume, a whimsical dress with pink gold-trimmed feathery shoulder caps attached to a light green embroidered bodice from which leaves extended over multiple layers of glittery tulle, complete with glittery plastic wings and pink shoes. She sparkled like a pixie fairy, and her usually sunny mood started to shine.

While everyone was talking about the upcoming school trip to the city zoo, Mom set up the dining table and Dad hung up multicolored balloons and streamers. There were silly hats for everyone, and a festive atmosphere filled the apartment with party music by Xuxa.

The table was overflowing with all sorts of goodies and scrumptious-looking finger foods like mini quiches, pigs in a blanket, mini star-shaped pizzas, popcorn, fairy bread, fruit wands with marshmallows, sprinkled mini cake balls, and so much more. By the size of his eyes, Jesse was hungry as always, filling his plate and mouth at the same time.

And then, when almost all the pigs in a blanket and mini star-shaped pizzas were gone, Mom and Dad brought from the kitchen a big birthday ice cream cake with twelve lit candles on top. Dad filmed the excitement and everyone joined in singing Happy Birthday to a smiley-faced Riley, the pixie star of the party.

Before she blew out the candles, she made a wish that she and her friends could go together for the first time to the Sunny Brook Summer Camp in the Blue Forest of Colorado. Riley’s mom had already signed her up for a two-week stay. For good measure, Riley tapped her pink shoes together just like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz who got her wish to come true. Of course, Riley had to keep it a secret, but that didn’t stop Sherri from pestering her to tell what she wished for.

As Riley was opening her presents in the living room, the telephone rang. It was Jesse’s mom asking if he was behaving himself. She also had some good news for him to be passed along. As soon as Mom hung up, the phone rang again. This time it was Sherri’s mom, and all that Riley could hear her say was, “That’s awesome. They’re all going to be so happy!”

Mom turned to the kids and told them she had great news from Jesse’s and Sherri’s moms that they were going to Sunny Brook Summer Camp. Sherri clapped her hands and Jesse fist-punched the air, both whooping with joy. Riley was in tears; they were happy tears because her wish had come true. The best birthday present ever!