The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell (45 page)
Read The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell Online
Authors: Chris Colfer
“We thought you were dead!” Chandler said, rubbing his brother’s head.
“We searched every kingdom for you!” Chase said, patting him on the back.
“Now you know why you couldn’t find me,” Charlie said, and shrugged.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Chance asked.
“I was ashamed,” Charlie said. “I didn’t know any better. I thought I had to hide. Please forgive me.”
The twins couldn’t believe it. Now they knew why he had been acting so strange when they’d arrived.
“So you’re a prince?” Alex asked with a gigantic smile on her face. “You forgot to mention that part.”
“My apologies,” Charlie said. “I could have sworn I mentioned it over lily pad tea.”
They laughed together. Charlie ran over to the twins and hugged them almost as tightly as his brothers had just hugged him.
“Thank you,” Charlie said, “for inspiring me to come out of that hole in the ground!”
“Thank
you
,” Alex said.
“I’m still calling you Froggy,” Conner said.
The Fairy Godmother waved her crystal wand one last time, and a door appeared in the middle of the ballroom. She walked over to the twins and placed a hand on both of their shoulders.
“It’s time,” she said.
The twins recognized the door immediately; it was the front door of their rental house. They had never been so happy to see it. A light was shining through it; they knew their mother was waiting for them on the other side.
All the kings, queens, and fairies in the room looked at Alex and Conner sweetly. Although most of them had had their predicaments with the twins, they were sad to see them go.
“Say good-bye,” Grandma told the twins.
Conner couldn’t wait any longer and ran straight to the door.
“Bye!”
Conner yelled at everyone in the room without looking at them. He ran through the door and disappeared, home at last.
Alex looked up at her grandmother. “Will we ever come back?” she asked, hoping with all her heart for the answer she wanted to hear.
“Someday,” her grandma said.
Alex took a step toward the men and women she had grown up reading about her entire life. She could have sworn she had had a dream just like this once. She had been meaning to say something and decided this might be her last chance to say it.
“I know this may not make any sense, but thank you for always being there for me,” Alex said. “You’re the best friends I’ve ever had.”
They didn’t quite understand what she meant, but they were all very touched by her words.
“Come along, dear,” her grandma said, and escorted her to the door.
Alex wiped away the tears that had been brought on by saying farewell. She couldn’t help but smile as she walked through the door with her grandmother, though, because she knew in her heart it wasn’t really
good-bye
.
Chris Colfer is a Golden Globe-winning actor best known for his role as "Kurt Hummel" on Glee. He was recently honored as a member of the 2011 TIME 100, Time Magazine's annual list of the one hundred most influential people in the world. The Land of Stories is his first novel.
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
I’d like to thank my family, Rob Weisbach, Alvina Ling, Brandon Dorman, the Little, Brown team, Glenn Rigberg, Meredith Fine, Alla Plotkin, Erica Tarin, Ashley Fink, Pam Jackson, Jamie Greenberg, the cast and crew of
Glee
, and last but certainly not least, Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm.
CHAPTER TWO: THE LONGER WALK HOME
CHAPTER THREE: A BIRTHDAY SURPRISE
CHAPTER FOUR: THE LAND OF STORIES
CHAPTER FIVE: FROM THE MOUTH OF A FROG
CHAPTER SIX: THE DWARF FORESTS
CHAPTER SEVEN: RAPUNZEL’S TOWER
CHAPTER NINE: THE CHARMING KINGDOM
CHAPTER TEN: THE RED RIDING HOOD KINGDOM
CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE TROLL AND GOBLIN TERRITORY
CHAPTER TWELVE: THE FAIRY KINGDOM
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE SLEEPING KINGDOM
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: THE NORTHERN KINGDOM
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: THROUGH THE MINES
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: GOLDILOCKS, WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: THE MERMAID’S MESSAGE
CHAPTER NINETEEN: THE THORNBUSH PIT
CHAPTER TWENTY: HEART OF STONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: THE MIRROR
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: SNOW WHITE’S SECRET
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: A ROYAL INVITATION
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: A FAIRY’S TALE
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Christopher Colfer
Jacket and interior art copyright © 2012 by Brandon Dorman
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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ISBN 978-0-316-20491-0