Lilli hops excitedly back and forth in the front yard. Again and again she looks down the street… but there is still no one in sight. Lilli eagerly waits for her guests, because today she is celebrating her 5th birthday. Last week she invited her friends from kindergarten to a fairy party and she is very happy that Imke, Elise, Mali, Milla and Felicitas are able to come.
"Lilli, come inside now, please, we still have a few things to prepare. Besides, you have your costume on but no jacket!", her mom calls for the third time. Lilli sighs and runs into the house. "But Mom, I want to greet all the guests." "You may, but only when they're here. And that will be in half an hour. Until then you can help me set the table. You were going to put the napkins on the plates and decorate the table with the paper flowers, remember?" "Oh yes, I almost forgot that," Lilli admits and goes to the living room with her mom.
Mom places plates on the table and Lilli puts a napkin with colorful flowers on each one for her friends. When the cups, cake forks, the jug of juice and bottles of water are also on the table, Mom brings the birthday cake: it is shaped like a beautiful flower and is decorated with colorful sugar beads. "There, now your fairy table is ready," she says to Lilli and sets the birthday train with five candles at Lilli's place, when the doorbell rings.
"Hooray, it's starting!", Lilli cheers, runs to the door and throws it open. Imke and Mali are standing outside, and behind them Elise and Felicitas are just walking up the path to the house. The girls quickly say goodbye to their parents and go into the living room with Lilli. All the friends have dressed up as fairies themselves. Together they admire the beautifully set table and the birthday cake, when Milla rings the doorbell. Mom accompanies her into the living room: "Now that everyone is here, you may start unwrapping the presents," she says to Lilli. The girls sit in a circle on the floor and watch what appears from the colorfully wrapped packages: a book, a DVD, a craft kit, a game and a puzzle. Lilli is pleased that the gifts are so different.
Then everyone sits at the table and eats a piece of cake. Lilli's dad and her brother Steven look into the living room. "Oh, I've never seen so many pretty fairies," says Dad and laughs. Steven just shakes his head. He has just come from a soccer game and his hair is all messy. "Steven, you're going to shower first while the girls play a few games, and then you'll help with the fairy treasure hunt as promised, okay?", says Mom. "But I still have to eat something. You'd better give me the rest of the cake," he says. Mom looks at Steven sternly and gives him a piece of cake. "You get exactly as much as everyone else," she says. Now Lilli shakes her head and grins. She knows her brother always acts as if he's starving.
The girls play various funny fairy birthday games and have lots of fun. Then they all put on their jackets and set off for the fairy treasure hunt: "Imagine," Mom tells them, "the dwarves stole your fairy treasure because it sparkles so beautifully. Now of course you want to get it back. And luckily the dwarves weren't paying very close attention and on the way to the dwarf village a star or a shiny ribbon kept falling out of the treasure chest. So you must keep your eyes wide open, then you can follow them and find the treasure again." The girls are thrilled. Lilli knows that Steven and Dad prepared a route for the treasure hunt… but she doesn't know where it goes either. So, like her friends, she looks out for clues. "There's a pink ribbon on the streetlamp up ahead!", calls Milla. The girls run over and next see a yellow star that has been chalked onto the sidewalk further on. "And there's the next clue!", calls Mali, pointing to the star. The girls follow the clues crisscross through the whole neighborhood… and finally come to the playground. Steven and Dad are standing there grinning. "So, you clever fairies, go and look for your treasure. In our dwarf village there are lots of super-good hiding places. I'm curious to see if you can do it," says Steven to the girls. And it is indeed really hard. Lilli and her friends spread out across the playground and look under every bush, behind every play structure and in every little playhouse. "Have you found anything yet?", Lilli calls to Mali and Imke, who are just coming out from behind a small hedge. Both shake their heads. Lilli turns to the bushes she was just about to search under, and there she really does see something glimmering through the green leaves. "I think I found the treasure!", she shouts and parts the branches: sure enough, at the very back by the fence stands a box covered in glitter foil. Imke and Mali are the first to reach her, but Elise, Felicitas and Milla come running too. Together they lift the lid of the box and look inside: within they find six little boxes, various glitter pens, shimmering stickers, assorted decorative stones and colorful shiny paper. "Well done, you fairies, you really showed those two dwarves!", says Mom and takes the box from Lilli. "Now we'll go home and then each of you may decorate your own little treasure box. Agreed?" The girls are delighted and set off. "See how clever we fairies are," says Felicitas to Steven as they leave the playground. "Exactly!", says Lilli. "We fairies are the smartest of all!" "Yeah, yeah!", sighs Steven and plods along behind the girls. "Don't worry about it. The main thing is the girls had fun. And for you we'll have a soccer birthday, okay?", suggests Dad.
Unfortunately the afternoon passes far too quickly and the friends are soon picked up. Of course each girl can take her little treasure box home. "At home I'll put all my treasures in there right away. I have lots of pretty stones and shells from the last vacation," Elise says to Lilli and gives her a hug goodbye. "That's a great idea, I'll do that too," says Lilli. "And then we can compare our treasures," she suggests to her friend. "But totally secret," says Elise, "so the naughty dwarves don't get any silly ideas again!" Lilli has to giggle and glances at Steven and Dad sitting on the sofa. "Well, they're not real dwarves, but those two do get silly ideas quite often!", she says laughing, happy about the lovely birthday party.
If you feel like it, you can reenact the story with the Little Friends dolls or even Invitations for the next birthday party create. For that there are Little Friends invitation cards to download and print.
