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Sun was bursting through the sheer lavender curtains in seven-year-old Raelyn's bedroom.

Much like a Disney princess, she padded over to the window and threw the floor-length curtains open with a flourish.

Raelyn smiled out at the beautiful view of her family's vineyard which seemed to go on for miles.

This was always an amazing view, but today it really seemed to sparkle just a little more because it was Raelyn's seventh birthday.

She just knew seven was going to be a good year- no, a great year.

Lucky number seven, as the adults were always saying.

Staring out the window she thought about the day ahead.

She would get to see all of her close friends and family members.

Her grand-mére and grand-pére from her mother's side would be visiting all the way from Bordeaux.

She always loved to hear them speak French with everyone; Raelyn could speak French decently but was better at listening and understanding the words than actually making the throaty sounds herself.

Raelyn's father's side of the family was French-Canadian, which was apparently just not the same as really being from France, and there was always light teasing about which was better.

She took in a deep breath and the scent of bacon filled her nostrils.

Smiling, she took off running down the stairs, not bothering to change out of her light blue and yellow ducky pajamas.

She followed the scent of bacon into the kitchen, realizing that that wasn't all that was cooking in there.

When her eyes fell on the kitchen island they grew wide with excitement.

Her mother and father were in the kitchen pouring each other mimosas made with champagne from their own vineyard and winery.

They must have been up for quite some time with the maids to put together the display between them: Raelyn's very own personalized breakfast buffet with all her favorite breakfast foods.

French toast, bacon, chocolate chip pancakes, blueberry muffins, a variety of flavored syrups, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, and a giant fruit bowl with pineapple chunks, strawberries, kiwi, blackberries, and raspberries covered the surface of the large kitchen island.

"Wow," Raelyn breathed, eyes unblinking and scanning the buffet in front of her. "Thank you!" She rushed over to give her parents each a hug.

"Happy birthday, sweetie," her dad said, handing her a piece of bacon from the serving tray.

"Raelyn, please get a plate, you are not an animal," her mother chided, her accent always thicker when she was making reprimands.

"Oh, Margaux, it's her birthday," her dad said, smiling down at her and sneaking her another piece of bacon. Raelyn smiled back up at him but caught sight of her mother's face and thought she had better just grab a plate.

Raelyn’s big sister, Camille, entered the kitchen, looking just as wide-eyed and awe struck by the smorgasbord in the middle of the room.

The two sisters filled their plates and scurried giddily into the formal dining room.

Their parents met the girls at the dining table once their plates were also full, and each set a glass of orange juice in a fancy champagne flute in front of the girls.

Camille and Raelyn exchanged wide grins and clinked glasses before digging into their plates.

In that moment, Raelyn knew without a doubt she was the luckiest birthday girl in the world.

Raelyn's birthday party was not just a party, it was an extravaganza!

Because the only way she could think to describe it was "extravagant.

" "Over the top" didn't quite cut it, though it would not be inaccurate, and outdoorsy as it was, "lavish" didn't quite make the mark either.

As usual the event was on the beach of Lake Michigan.

There was a park with a playground and large play set for the kids, but it was empty because the beach itself was full of different activities.

The theme here was clearly carnival; there were face painters, one of those giant hammer swinging games to win a stuffed animal, ski ball, a giant slide, pony rides- pony rides!

- and even a few dunk tanks with clowns waiting to be dropped into the water below.

There were concession stands with elephant ears, cotton candy, nachos, deep-fried anything , and an ice cream truck was parked in the shade past the sand.

Raelyn could not believe that this was her party.

She was once again glad that her birthday was the longest day of the year because she was sure she would never get to all the events if it weren’t.

She had done her best so far, having ridden the giant slide several times, taken six pony rides, and she had beat both her sister and their older cousin, Paul, at ski ball- twice!

Now walking around with a stuffed elephant the size of, well, her, in one hand and a fried corn dog in the other, she thought she needed to take a minute and breathe, and maybe let up on the junk food once this corn dog was gone.

Raelyn found her grand-pére who gladly took the stuffed elephant and tucked it away for her so that she could roam the beach more freely.

She was walking by herself when she passed the three dunk tanks with clowns still dry, waiting to be dunked.

She really didn't like clowns and wondered if her parents put them in the dunk tanks because of that, or if they simply forgot that she did not like them.

These clowns all had different make up and wigs.

One wearing mostly yellow with a bright green wig seemed less intimidating than the other two.

Not realizing the line had moved and Raelyn was now at the front of it, the man tending to the dunk tanks tossed her a baseball.

She looked at the ball in her hand and back up at the clown, with its creepy oversized smile, trying to appear friendly but still scaring her a little.

"The birthday girl, yes?" The man had golden tan skin and dark hair, and she didn't recognize what kind of accent he had, but she found it enjoyable to listen to.

Raelyn nodded in response. "We will give you some extra throws, of course!

However many you want. None of these clowns has been in the water yet. "

Raelyn concentrated, let out a breath and threw the ball as hard as she could.

Missed.

The man tossed the baseball back to her and this time she focused more on aim than force.

Missed again.

She caught the ball in her hand once more, closed her eyes, and concentrated. She opened her eyes and saw the clown waving her hands around by her head in a teasing manner. Raelyn sent the ball flying one more time.

Ping!

The ball had just grazed the end of the metal circle and bounced off, not hitting the button hard enough to send the clown into the water. The clown mimed a big, hearty laugh. Raelyn shook her head, but still smiled.

"I'll come back," she told the man. "May I keep one of the baseballs?" Baseball and softball were not sports she played much yet, but perhaps they should be. Maybe she needed to practice throwing a little so the next time there was a clown that needed to be dunked she could do it with ease.

The man nodded and tossed her one of the baseballs out of his bucket.

She caught the ball and headed down the beach, tossing it in the air and catching it until she realized she had wandered a little farther from the party than she had meant to do.

She turned to look back at all her friends and family having fun and smiled.

Thinking she should probably head back before someone thought she was missing, she caught sight of a boy skipping rocks a little farther down the beach.

Giving another glance back toward the party, she made up her mind and decided to walk toward the boy.

She stood back and watched him throw several rocks, sending them skimming and hopping gently across the surface of the lake.

Raelyn noticed the boy's intensity gradually increasing, his arm throwing the rocks harder and harder until he was no longer skipping them, but simply seeing how far he could throw them.

She thought maybe he sounded out of breath or like he was breathing heavily for some reason, and before she could stop herself she spoke.

"You can really throw.”

The boy startled, whipping around and looking at Raelyn with his brow furrowed.

He almost looked angry or sad, or maybe both.

He was breathing heavily, his chest and shoulders rising and falling with harsh breaths as though he were about to scream or cry.

His features softened when he took in Raelyn's presence.

She was wearing purple shorts with a white tank top and a sash that said "Birthday Girl" in sparkly gold letters, her long blonde hair a windblown mess around her head.

When the boy didn't say anything to her she looked around and asked him, "Are you here by yourself? Shouldn't your parents be with you?"

The boy looked down, seeming to notice what he was wearing for the first time.

An oversized t-shirt that had the Budweiser logo across the front and a pair of jeans that had large holes in both knees.

His hair was dark brown, except when the sun hit it just right there was a hint of auburn, and it was untidy, sticking up in all places.

Raelyn thought he must be around her age.

He was standing barefoot in the sand, still holding a rock in one hand.

"Shouldn't yours?" the boy finally said.

Raelyn turned and gestured toward the big extravaganza down the beach, "They're over there.

Along with my grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins.

" They stood in silence for a short moment and Raelyn approached him further, taking a few more steps toward him.

"I'm Raelyn DeRose. That's my birthday party, I'm seven today. "