Wimpy Kid author cheers up devastated birthday boy after nobody shows up to party
A devastated boy whose birthday was ruined when none of his friends turned up to his party, has been cheered up by his favourite author.
Mahlon Layne, 9, of Oregon, US, planned to throw a party themed on his favourite book series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
This was his first year at a public school, after being home-schooled for much of his life, and he was excited to host a party to celebrate with his new friends.
But when nobody showed up, or even bothered to RSVP, the boy's mother who goes by the pen name Kristen Layne, wrote an emotional blog post describing her "utter devastation".
“Since we're new in town (and school just started a little over a month ago here), I didn't have phone numbers for any of the parents,” she wrote.
Ms Layne considered cancelling the party but her son had assured her that five of his friends were definitely coming.
“When his birthday finally arrived yesterday, he was up before the sun.” She said he yelled it was the happiest day of his life.
Ms Layne watched as her little boy ran up and down the street anxiously waiting for his party guests.
“But no one came. Not a single child,” Ms Layne added.
She explained that, despite having ordered enough pizza to “feed a small army”, only Mahlon's family members turned up to celebrate with him.
Mahlon told his father, “No one came Dad. I guess I'm not very popular at school".
Ms Layne said Mahlon later started sobbing when he realised nobody was going to turn up.
Since his mother posted her story online, Mahlon was sent a raft of gifts and well wishes from people around the world.
Mahlon's story caught the attention of Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney, who took it upon himself to brighten the boy's day.
The famous children's author FaceTimed Mahlon and gave him a personal tour of his office and studio, decked out in Diary of a Wimpy Kid decor.
His mother was over the moon to see her son's joy.
"He's an extremely nice guy who has brightened up my son's world so much, that I don't know if he'll ever stop smiling," she shared in a follow-up blog post.
"Not only did Jeff take time out of his super busy day to talk to him, but he FaceTimed him as well."
She said her son was "telling anyone who will listen" that he has a new friend in Kinney, and he wants to write his own books, just like him.
In her blog, Ms Layne thanked the hundreds of strangers for their kind words.
“Our family wanted to send a huge, enormous thank you to each and every one of you for all the kind words, support, birthday wishes, cards, gifts," she wrote.
