Birthday Noise and a Funny Feeling

Izaiah Guerrero had the loudest birthday in all of Stockton.

He ate every single doughnut on the table — every one. He sang "Happy Birthday" sweet and soft, then threw his head back and screamed it like a rock star. Then he grabbed his blue lightning-bolt electric guitar and shredded a solo that made the balloons shake.

"IZAIAH!" his mom laughed from the doorway.

He grinned. Best birthday ever.

Then the TV flickered. Every channel showed the same thing — a giant castle, a giant king, and a very worried princess.

Izaiah squinted at the screen.

"That's… not a cartoon," he said.

Static on Every Channel

The TV went totally black.

Then it buzzed back on — but instead of the castle, it showed a face. A huge, spiky, angry turtle-dragon face with a crown jammed on his head.

"BOWSER," a voice boomed from the screen. Not a narrator. Him. Bowser himself. "Your princess has one hour before I bring the whole castle DOWN!"

Izaiah's birthday balloons shook from the volume alone.

Then — *pop* — the TV died completely.

Izaiah stood there holding his guitar. His mom rushed in from the kitchen, phone in hand.

"Every channel," she said. "It's all him."

Izaiah looked at the dark screen.