The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell (9 page)

She knew her brother was right, but there was something
about the whole situation that intrigued her past the point of reason.

“I think you’re overreacting,” Alex said. “I don’t want to get rid of it until I know more about it.” She closed the book, put it back in her school bag, and walked out of the restroom.

“Alex! Don’t walk away! Alex!” Conner called out after her.

The twins returned to class. All the students were silently reading their history books.

“Alex, we need to talk!” Conner whispered.

“Mr. and Miss Bailey, please have a seat and read the chapter on Mesopotamia,” Mrs. Peters ordered from her desk.

“Yes, Mrs. Peters,” Alex said, and then turned back to her brother and whispered, “We’ll talk about it later, Conner!”

Conner let out a sound similar to something a bear would make.

“Mr. Bailey, how was the nurse?” Mrs. Peters asked.

“There was no need; my elbow started feeling much better before I got there,” Conner said, holding the other elbow than the one he had previously claimed was hurting.

Mrs. Peters raised an eyebrow so high, it was almost above her.

The twins sat at their desks and opened their history books, but neither of them could actually read. Their thoughts were so loud, it was impossible to focus on anything.

Conner kept looking up at his sister, hoping she’d turn around so he could make some sort of gesture to make her understand how serious the situation was. Alex could feel her brother’s eyes on the back of her head, so she remained facing forward, set on ignoring him.

And then, the worst possible thing that could have happened
happened. The Land of Stories
began humming in the quiet classroom from the inside of Alex’s bag.

She looked back at her brother, finally making eye contact. What were they going to do? Mrs. Peters had been so caught up in her lesson plan that she hadn’t heard it earlier. Was it possible for her to miss it again?

“What is that noise?” Mrs. Peters demanded.

All of the students were looking around the room, wondering the same thing. Alex and Conner were terrified; they felt like their stomachs had fallen out of their bodies.

Mrs. Peters got up from her desk and started searching around the room, like a coyote sniffing out its prey. She walked up and down the aisles of desks, getting closer and closer to Alex.

“If anyone knows what that is, they’d better tell me before I find it,” the teacher warned.

Alex could feel her heartbeat in her throat. There was no telling what could happen if her teacher found the book. She could only imagine what a fuss the school would make of the discovery…. Perhaps they’d call the local news stations…. Perhaps government officials would take the
book away for experimental testing…. Perhaps her family would be taken away because they had been in such close contact with it….

Mrs. Peters arrived at Alex’s desk.

“Miss Bailey, is there something in your bag?” she asked her.

All the color in Alex’s face drained away. She needed a miracle!

Suddenly, a large history book flew from the back of the classroom and hit Mrs. Peters on the head, leaving a large dent in her curly hair. The entire class turned to the back of the room and saw Conner’s extended hand.
He had just thrown a book at their teacher!

Mrs. Peters’s face turned bright red. A charging bull would have seemed harmless compared to the way she was looking at Conner.

“Mr. Bailey! What on earth has gotten into you?”
she screamed. The whole school must have heard her.

For a brief moment, Conner saw his entire life flash before his eyes. He honestly thought he was about to die. His face was so white, he was almost transparent.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Peters!” Conner whimpered. “There was a bee! I didn’t mean to hit you!” he lied.

Steam was practically coming out of the teacher’s ears and nostrils.

“Detention, Mr. Bailey! For the rest of this week, next week, and the week after that!”
Mrs. Peters said. She
returned to her desk and immediately began filling out every detention slip she had in her possession.

Thankfully, the room had become so tense that everyone had forgotten about the humming sound and, even more thankfully, they hadn’t noticed it slowly fade away. Conner’s mission was accomplished. He knew he’d done the right thing—not as a student, but as a brother.

Soon, the bell rang, and all the students left their desks and filed out of the classroom—except for Conner, who remained seated. Alex walked up to him.

“Thanks for that,” she said.

“You owe me one,” Conner told her.

She nodded and then left the classroom to walk home alone. Conner remained seated until Mrs. Peters finished filling out the detention slips.

“Come here, Mr. Bailey,” she said.

Conner approached her desk as if it were on fire.

“Throwing things in my classroom will never be tolerated; do you understand me, Mr. Bailey?” she said, heavily pronouncing each syllable of each word. “One more incident like that, and I’ll have you expelled!”

He gulped and nodded. She handed him a large stack of detention slips.

“Your mother will need to sign all of these,” Mrs. Peters told him.

He nodded again. “I’m really sorry,” Conner said. “I hope I didn’t hurt you.” He was so genuine that even Mrs. Peters could sense his regret. She knew that, deep
down, Conner had always been a good kid—a horrible student, but a good kid nonetheless.

“It’s all right, Mr. Bailey,” she said. “I believe I may have underestimated the effect your family situation has had on you and your sister. I’m going to contact your mother with a list of different after-school programs I think you and your sister should take part in, as well as a list of self-help books that may be beneficial.”

Conner nodded in agreement.

“I think if you had someplace to escape to once in a while, it’d help you deal with whatever you’re going through,” she said.

Conner continued nodding. If there was ever a time in his life when he needed an escape from reality, it was now, and he was sure his sister would agree.

And then, like lightning, the thought hit him.

Oh my God
,
Alex!
Conner thought.
She’s gonna travel into the book herself! That’s why she’s been holding on to it! That’s why she refused to get rid of it!

Conner dropped all the detention slips and bolted toward the door.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Peters, I can’t go to detention today! Something has just come up!”

“Mr. Bailey! Get back here right now!” she yelled after him, but it was too late. He was already gone.

Conner was running as fast as he could down the street. Alex had gotten so much of a head start, would he make it home in time to stop her? What if she was already gone by
the time he got there? What if he never saw her again? His feet began to ache, a horrible pain grew in his side, and his heart felt like it was beating out of his chest, but he continued running. He just prayed he wasn’t too late….

It hadn’t been more than five minutes since Alex had gotten home when
The Land of Stories
began acting up again. She ran up the stairs to her bedroom and promptly shut the door behind her.

Alex took
The Land of Stories
out of her school bag and placed it on her bedroom floor. She opened the cover, and her room lit up from its golden glow. She smiled to herself. Alex had always hoped something magical would happen to her, and now something finally was.

She pulled out a pencil from her school bag and placed it on top of the book and watched it disappear. Alex looked around the room for other disposable things she could drop into the book. She was out of pencils, and the books left in her bookshelves were ones she wanted to keep. She looked down at her school bag; she did have plenty of
school bags.

She placed her whole bag on top of the book and watched as it, too, slowly sank into the storybook. Where were all these things going? Was it transporting them to another part of the world? Would she find a pile of her school supplies in India or China?

Or did the book send the items someplace else entirely? Was it possible they were going to another world? Was it the world that Alex secretly hoped for?

There was only one way to find out.

It was an idea she had managed to suppress all week. What if she went into the book? No, she couldn’t possibly do such a stupid thing. What if she never came out?

But what if she stuck her hand into the book? What would happen? Would it hurt? Would her whole arm disappear? Alex’s curiosity overruled her caution. She sat on her knees and bent over the book very carefully.

Alex started with just her fingertips. So far, so good. There was no pain; she only felt a warm, tingly sensation. Alex reached farther. She was wrist deep now, and still nothing had happened that worried her. She went farther; the book was up to her elbow. If the book hadn’t been there, her hand would surely be sticking through the ceiling downstairs.

Alex leaned forward even farther, almost shoulder deep into the book. She moved her arm around, seeing if there was anything to grab on to inside it.

Suddenly, her bedroom door burst open, and Conner ran inside, sweating and out of breath. “Alex! Don’t do it!”

He completely startled her. Alex lost her balance and fell—headfirst into the book!

“AAALLLEEEXXX!” Conner cried out to his sister. He jumped to the ground, trying to grab her foot before she disappeared entirely, but it was too late. Alex had fallen into
The Land of Stories
.

A
lex was no longer in her bedroom. She was falling into a world of light.

She fell farther and farther, faster and faster. She was dizzy and scared. She screamed out for help but couldn’t hear her own voice. Would she ever stop falling? Was she going to die? Was she dead? She wondered if she would ever see her family again.

She could hear birds chirping and trees blowing in the wind. The noise seemed to get closer and closer, but she
just kept falling and falling, not knowing where she was falling to….

“Ouch!” Alex said, hitting the ground. Her impact was hard enough to hurt but not hard enough to seriously injure her. Had it not been for the rough landing, she would have thought she was dreaming for sure.

Alex quickly got to her feet. She felt her pulse to make sure her heart was still working; she was still alive, from what she could tell. She was so thankful to have finally stopped falling… but where exactly had she fallen to?

She was standing on a dirt path in the middle of a thick forest. The trees were tall and dark with bright green moss covering their trunks. The sun’s rays shined through a light mist. Birds squawked from high in the trees and, if she listened closely enough, she could hear a tiny stream in the distance.

Alex spun around, looking in all directions. Her breathing increased as she took in her new surroundings. Was she overreacting or not reacting enough to what had just happened? And what exactly
had
just happened?