we’re going to see! Think about all thepeople we’re going to meet! We’re going to be experiencing things
no one
else in our world ever has!”
Conner rolled his eyes. “I’ll feel lucky as soon as we get back home.”
Alex reached into her bag and pulled out their map. Her eyes became fixated on it, and she only looked up every minute or so to make sure she wasn’t about to walk into a tree. Every few seconds she’d snicker or smile when she discovered something new. She looked like a
tourist.
“Shouldn’t we be reading the journal?” Conner asked. “We need to make a list of the Wishing Spell items and find out where we can find them.”
“We will,” Alex said passively. “There’ll be plenty of time for that.”
Conner was getting frustrated with her. Did she not realize how serious the situation was?
“We need to go home,” Conner said. “What are we waiting for?”
“There are just a couple things I would like to see before we go home,” Alex told him.
“What are you talking about?” Conner said, his volume and temper rising.
“We’re in the fairy-tale world, Conner. We should make the most of it while we’re here!” Alex said. “Who else gets the chance to see Cinderella’s palace or Jack’s beanstalk or Rapunzel’s tower in person?”
Conner’s mouth and eyes were wide open. He couldn’t believe what his sister was saying.
“We’re stuck in another world, and you want to go
sightseeing
?” he said. “Are you hearing yourself right now? Do you know how crazy you sound?”
She stopped walking and turned to face her brother. There was seriousness and desperation in her eyes.
“Conner, the last year of our lives has been horrible. We’ve lost everything but Mom and each other,” Alex said. “Every night, I’ve wished for a fairy godmother to magically appear and make everything better, and now we’re in a place where that is a possibility! I don’t have friends to go home to like you do. The only friends I’ve ever known live here, and I’m not going home until I meet them!”
Alex continued walking down the path. Conner was absolutely dumbstruck.
“Why am I being the logical one?” Conner questioned. “You’re always over-thinking everything! How are you not out of your mind with worry?”
“What’s there to be worried about?” Alex asked with a laugh.
“For starters, what’s Mom gonna do when she finds out we’re missing?” Conner pointed out. “She’ll think we were kidnapped! And she has enough to worry about already!”
Alex knew he was right, but her desire to see the fairy-tale world was so strong that she was able to ignore him.
“All I need is a day or two,” Alex said. “That’ll give us plenty of time.”
“How are you so sure these worlds run on the same time schedule?” Conner panicked. “Think about it, the storiesof Cinderella and Red Riding Hood have been around for hundreds of years in our world, but it only seems like a decade or less has gone by here since! A couple days here and Mom may be in her eighties when we get home!”
Conner rubbed his head; it hurt from thinking so hard. Alex was listening more than she wanted to. He was practically repeating word for word what the logical voices in her head were saying.
“What if something happens while we’re gone?” Conner asked. “What if we get back and apes or aliens have taken over our planet? If I miss
that
, I will never forgive you!”
Alex stopped walking and looked up from the map. A very odd expression appeared on her face.
“Didn’t think of that, did you?” Conner asked her, but Alex wasn’t listening to him. Something else entirely had caught her attention.
“Do you smell that?” Alex asked.
“What?” Conner said. “All I smell are trees and dirt.”
Alex took a couple steps further. “No, it’s something else. It’s sweet, like something’s baking.”
Conner sniffed. Sure enough, a scrumptious smell was drifting through the air.
“It
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