Two hours later, we had finally arrived. I got out of the car and ran to her room. But when I had arrived, she was nowhere to be found. Only then had I realized she was up to something. I searched her room for any trace of her, and when I checked her closet, I had found a snow globe, the one just like mine.

All of a sudden, as I reached for it, some sort of magical portal opened, pulling me in.

When I opened my eyes again, all I could see was a minion? I realized I was in Universal. Not the place, but the company. I was inside the TV. I tried talking to the minion, but of course, she was speaking in Minionese (the Minion language). A few moments later, their master, Gru, appeared. Luckily, he knew English.

“Excuse me, do you know how to get out of here?” I asked.

“What do you mean? First you enter my evil lair, and then you have the courage to ask me how to get out. This is inexcusable,” Gru spoke with anger in his voice.

“I’m incredibly sorry, but I came here from a magical portal. I sort of just appeared here. By any chance, have you seen a girl passing by? She’s my friend, and I’m looking for her.”

“Sure you did. You must tell me of this incredible sorcery. But anyways, yes, I did, before I had the chance to question her about why she was in my evil lab. She ran off like a little potato chip. But first, tell me, what is your name? Are you a friend of my dear Margo?”

“Umm, okay, thank you. My name is Grace. But no, I’m not a friend of Margo. Thanks for your help, but I better get going.”

I stormed out of the house. When I stopped for a second to catch my breath, everything had gone dark. All I could see was a person out of reach. I must have been trapped in someone’s television or maybe someone’s memories.

I searched through the darkness. Suddenly, I found someone.

It was her.

“Ella!” I screamed, running toward her.

She turned around, and for a moment, she just stared at me.

“Grace?”

I stopped.

“How did you get here?” I asked, almost out of breath.

She smiled. “I could ask you the same thing.”

“You disappeared! I found your snow globe, and then this portal opened, and…” I stopped. “Wait. You knew this was going to happen, didn’t you?”

Her smile disappeared.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t find it.”

“Find what?”

She slowly pulled the snow globe out of her pocket.

My snow globe.

Except this time, it wasn’t filled with snow.

Inside it were tiny little pictures.

I stepped closer.

There was a picture of me laughing at the park. One of us is eating ice cream on a summer afternoon. One of us is dancing in the rain. One of us is sitting together on the last day of school.

Wonderful memories I had forgotten were even there.

I looked at her.

“What is this?”

She took a deep breath.

“It’s where I put them.”

“Put what?”

“Our memories.”

I stared at her, completely confused.

“Why would you put our memories inside a snow globe?”

“Because I was scared they’d disappear.”

The room suddenly became quiet.

She looked down at the snow globe.

“Things were changing, Grace. We were growing up. I thought maybe one day we’d forget all the little things that made us us. So I found this snow globe. I discovered that it could hold memories… and open doors to places connected to them.”

I looked around at the strange world surrounding us.

“So every place we’ve been going is connected to a memory?”

She nodded.

“Exactly.”

Suddenly, the snow globe began glowing.

The darkness around us disappeared, and hundreds of tiny lights floated through the air.

Each one was a memory.

I reached out and touched one.

Suddenly, I was back at the park with her.

We were younger, running through the grass and laughing so hard that neither of us could breathe.

Then another memory appeared.

Us building a blanket fort.

Another.

Us staying up way too late, talking about absolutely nothing.

Another.

Us promising that no matter how much things changed, we’d always be friends.

I smiled.

Then I started crying.

Not because I was sad.

Because I finally understood.

The memories weren’t gone.

They had been waiting for me.

She grabbed my hand.

“Ready to go home?”

I nodded.

“Definitely.”

She held the snow globe between us.

“Then let’s go.”

The world around us began spinning.

For a second, I saw everything we’d been through: the strange worlds, the Minions, Gru, the darkness, the snow, the memories.

Then everything went white.

When I opened my eyes, I was back in her room.

The closet door was still open.

The snow globe sat exactly where I had found it.

I looked at her.

She smiled.

“So… you believe me now?”

I laughed.

“I think I have to.”

She picked up the snow globe and handed it to me.

“Then keep it safe.”

I looked inside.

This time, there was something new.

A tiny picture of the two of us standing together.

And underneath it were three little words:

Our memories matter.

I smiled.

Because the best memories aren’t always the ones you remember best. It’s the ones we almost forget… and re-discover.