The minute Ella opened her eyes on her 16th birthday, she knew something was off. Everything in her room was backwards, the windows were on the floor looking into the kitchen, her closet was on her ceiling, and her lamp was standing on the wall. She sprints downstairs to find out what’s going on, but she finds her parents wearing each other’s clothing and holding a cake that had “61” candles on top.
“Mom, Dad, I’m 16! Not 61,” she cries, “What’s going on?”
“What are you talking about sweetie?” her mom replies.
“Everything is wrong! My hair is curly instead of naturally straight, my-” Ella stops as soon as she sees her dog walk in covered in pink and blue polka-dots. She immediately runs to her room sobbing, planning to call her best friend. But once she types in her friend’s number, all she hears is the dial tone. She decided to try typing it backwards and she heard Mia on the other end.
“Happy death-day Ella! What are your plans?” Ella responds with tears streaming down her face, “Do you mean happy birthday? Mia, my room is all mixed up, my dog is pink and blue and my parents are acting like this is all normal!”
“What are you talking about?” said Mia. “Hold on, I am walking over there now.”
Ella waits for Mia on her front ramp, which was usually steps, but is incredibly disappointed when she sees Mia walking on her hands towards her. In fact, she was so startled she ran into her backyard and climbed into her treehouse she used to spend hours playing with her toys in. That’s when she heard her name in a soft whisper behind her.
She turned around and her old stuffed bear was talking to her.
“Ella! I haven’t seen you here in forever, what’s going on?”
“I don’t know, Ted, I was scared to turn 16 because I knew everything would be different. I’m not a kid anymore and I don’t know how to grow up.”
“Nonsense!” said Ted. “You are a charismatic, intelligent girl with big dreams. You are going to be just fine.” Ella was comforted by her old pal’s words, and brought him in for a hug, squeezing him and her eyes.
As soon as she opened her eyes to let go of Ted, she realized she was laying in her bed, her windows were on her wall, her closet was in its normal spot, and her lamp was on her nightstand. She grabbed her phone to call Mia and on the other side she heard, “Happy 16th birthday Ella! Any plans today?”
Ella thought her life would turn upside down when she started getting older, but when she saw her parents holding an average vanilla cake with 16 candles on top, wearing their usual clothing, and her dog walked in with black spots, she realized she was going to be just fine.
