The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell (44 page)

I
’m so glad you’re all right!” their grandmother said, and rushed over to the twins. She gave them the biggest and longest hug they had ever received from her. “Your mother and I have been so worried!”

The twins didn’t hug her back; they couldn’t. They could barely breathe. They were surprised they were still standing, because neither of them could feel their legs.

“How are you?” their grandma asked. “Are you hurt? Are you hungry? Do you need anything?”

“Grandma?” Alex asked softly. “Is it really you?”

“It’s me, sweetheart,” she said. “I’m really here.”

“
You’re
the Fairy Godmother?” Conner asked.

She smiled at them. “I am,” she said, with sadness in her voice. “I’m so sorry, I never meant for you to find out this way—”

Their grandmother stopped speaking. Her gaze had landed on the object Alex was holding.

“Good heavens—what on earth are you doing with your father’s old journal?” she asked.

Alex and Conner felt like they had swallowed their own hearts.

“This is
Dad’s
journal?” Alex asked with big, bewildered eyes.

“We’ve been following
Dad’s
journal this whole time?” Conner asked.

“I think I’m going to faint,” Alex said.

Their grandmother pulled out a long crystal wand from inside her overcoat. She waved it, and a sofa magically appeared in the clock tower. She took the twins by the hands and sat them down on the sofa and let them catch their breath.

It took the twins by surprise. Even though she was the Fairy Godmother, Alex and Conner weren’t expecting their
grandmother
to be capable of such magic.

Grandma took the journal from Alex and flipped through the pages, amazed that it had somehow found its way into their possession.

“Where did you get this?” she asked.

“It was given to us by our friend Froggy,” Alex said. “We’ve been following it since we got here.”

“We’ve been hunting down all the items for the Wishing Spell,” Conner said.

“The Wishing Spell?”
their grandma asked anxiously. “No wonder it was impossible to find you!”

“You and Dad are actually from here, then?” Alex asked. “I wasn’t making it all up in my head?”

“And Dad wrote that journal?” Conner asked, his mind still stuck on the subject.

“Yes, yes, yes,” their grandmother said. “It’s all true. I gave this journal to him when he was a boy. I’m glad it was useful.”

The twins had gotten used to their heads spinning with questions, but now they were spinning out of control. They didn’t know which questions to ask first.

“So Dad wanted the Wishing Spell so he could travel into our world?” Conner asked.

“He wrote that he fell in love with a woman in our world,” Alex said.
“Was it… Could it be…?”

“Your mother, yes,” their grandma said.

Alex and Conner exchanged a look, each seeing how the other was processing the information. Neither looked less shocked than the other.

“How long have you been a Fairy Godmother?” Alex asked.

“Why didn’t anyone ever tell us any of this?” Conner asked.

“I know you probably have a hundred questions,” their grandma said. “But before you worry yourselves too much, let me explain.”

“Please,” Conner said.

Their grandma took a deep breath. She didn’t know where or how to start.

“We always planned on telling you when you were older,” she said. “Your father was counting down the days until he could bring you here and show you around. Unfortunately, he never got a chance to. After he passed away, you two were going through so much already, your mother and I didn’t want to overwhelm you, so we decided to hold off.”

“So Mom knows about this place?” Alex asked.

“She’s never been here, but she knows enough,” their grandma said. “Your father and I, on the other hand, were both born and raised in this world. Before your father was born, and when I was just a young fairy in training, I accidentally discovered your world.”

“So, your cabin in the woods? Your blue car? It was all just for show?” Conner asked.

“Certainly not,” Grandma said. “I stay at that cabin during my travels, and I love that blue car. I wish people in this world knew about automobiles.”

“So how did you end up in our world to begin with?” Alex asked.

“It happened by total accident,” she said. “I had recently just finished a tour of the kingdoms, traveling to those who needed a helping hand, and I was anxious to help more. I
waved my wand around me, I closed my eyes, and thought with all my heart, ‘I wish to go someplace where people need me the most,’ thinking I would just end up in a small village in the Northern Kingdom. When I opened my eyes, I knew I wasn’t in the kingdoms anymore.

“I kept it to myself for years before telling any of the other fairies about it. I met a group of children there who showed me around. I was fascinated by their world, but they were even more fascinated with stories about mine. They didn’t know anything about magic or fairies before I came along. Their world was so consumed with war and famine and disease… it was all they knew. They would sit for hours and listen to my stories about the world I came from. It seemed to take them away from all their troubles.

“I saw how the stories inspired them, how they gave them hope, how they gave them courage and strength, and how they learned lessons from them. It made children without families learn to love and trust a little more than they had before, and it put the sparkle back in the eyes of the children who were ill and had had their childhoods taken from them. I decided from then on that I would do as much as I could to make our stories, our history, as known as possible.

“To date, I am the only one who has had the gift to move between worlds, and I found it to be a great responsibility. I recruited Mother Goose and a few of the fairies to go with me into your world and spread these stories of ours. We found the children who needed to hear them the most, the ones who
were down on their luck and needed a little magic, and the term
fairy tales
was born. Your world was moving so fast and growing so large, we couldn’t do it by ourselves anymore, so we asked people like the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen and a few others to help us over the years.”

“So, there
is
a time difference?” Alex said.

“Your world moves so much faster than ours,” Grandma said. “I visited once a week, and every time I returned it seemed as if decades and decades had gone by.”

“That’s why the stories have been in our world for so long!” Conner said.

“Oh no!” Alex exclaimed. “Mom! Does that mean she’s grown into an old woman while we’ve been here?”

“No,” their grandmother said. “You see, children, there
was
a time difference. But then something truly magical happened that changed all of that.”

“What?” Conner asked.

“You two were born,” Grandma said with a smile.

The twins looked at each other, amazed.

“Why are we so special?” Conner asked.

“Because, sometimes magic has a mind of its own,” she said.

Grandma looked down at her hands and at her wedding ring.

“Your grandfather loved your world and traveled with me whenever I went. He was the love of my life, but he unfortunately died shortly before your father was born. I
raised your father here on my own, but I continued to visit the other world from time to time, although it was painful, because it reminded me of your grandfather.

“Your father was always an adventurous boy. From an early age, he was constantly running off and exploring different lands throughout the kingdoms. He was always very curious about the other world, and I promised to take him one day when he was an adult. Many years later, he came with us to a children’s hospital to read stories to the sick children. Your mother had just started nursing there, and I knew from the minute he laid eyes on her that his heart didn’t belong to himself anymore.

“Naturally, I forbid him from staying or ever coming back with the fairies and myself again. It was selfish of me, but I was scared he would get lost in the time difference of the worlds and would live the rest of his life without me; I couldn’t lose my son after losing your grandfather. But his love for your mother was too strong, and he found his own way back by using the Wishing Spell. I had no choice but to give him my blessing and let him go. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do as a mother.

“However, as soon as you two were born, the most peculiar thing happened: Your world and this world slowly started to move at similar speeds. It’s the greatest magic I have seen in my lifetime.

“Being your father’s children means that you have part of this world inside of you; you always have. You two are
the first children of both worlds; you’re the bridge that connects them.”

The twins were so relieved to know that their mother would be the same age when they returned.

“You mean,” Alex began to ask, but paused because it almost seemed too good to be true, “that Conner and I are
part fairy
?”

“I suppose so, if you put it that way,” she said.

Alex placed both of her hands over her heart and tears came to her eyes. Conner rolled his eyes and sighed.

“That’s wonderful!” Alex said.

“Oh, great,” Conner said sarcastically. “The guys at school can
never
hear about this.”

“How else did you think you set off my old storybook?” Grandma said.

Alex sat straight up in her seat. She remembered the night in bed when she was holding
The Land of Stories
and wishing with all her heart to travel inside it, the first night she discovered it wasn’t an average book.

“You mean,
I
did that?” she asked. “I made
The Land of Stories
bring us here?”

“Yes,” Grandma said. A proud smile filled her face.

Alex couldn’t believe it.
She
was magic.
She’d
made it happen.

“It all makes so much sense now!” Alex said. “In the castle the Evil Queen was hiding in,
my
tear activated the Wishing Spell! And I saw my reflection in one of her magic mirrors! I had wings! I thought I was just seeing things!”

“Evil Queen?” their grandma asked. “It sounds like you two have had even more of an adventure here than I thought!”

“You can say that again,” Conner said.

“I look forward to hearing all about it,” their grandma said. “Your mother has been worried sick! She’s had to give your school every excuse known to man as to why you two have been gone. I think it’s time I took you home.”

Home.
She was going to take them
home
. Never had a word sounded so beautiful.

“Can you do that?” Conner said.

“You’d be amazed at the things your grandma can do,” she laughed. But her look faded as she sadly looked down at the journal that had belonged to her late son. “Amazing, isn’t it? Even in death, your father managed to show you around this place. It had always been his dream.”

Alex and Conner had always thought that their father was amazing, but until now, they never knew just how amazing he actually was.

The twins and their grandmother left the clock tower and caught Sir Lampton leaning on the door, closely listening to their conversation. He escorted them back down the stairs to the ballroom.

“I knew your father,” Lampton whispered into the twins’ ears. “We grew up together. I knew you must have been his children the very second I saw you. That’s why I put the glass slipper in your bag.”

The twins couldn’t even acknowledge it with a smile. Their minds were already overloaded.

They walked into the ballroom, and everyone stood at the sight of the Fairy Godmother.

“Everyone, please have a seat. I’ve come to bless the baby princess with a gift, and then I’m going to take my grandchildren home,” she said, and put her arms around Alex and Conner.

“Grandchildren?” Cinderella asked. “I had no idea! Why, that practically makes us family!” she said, smiling at the twins.

“Did you hear that, Alex?” Conner said, leaning close to his sister. “Cinderella herself just said we’re practically her family!”

“I know,” Alex peeped. “And I’m trying not to cry.”

The Fairy Godmother took the newborn princess into her arms. The twins were excited to see their grandmother in action.

“She’s beautiful, dear,” she said to Cinderella. “My gift to the princess will be bravery. She may need it in the years to come.”

The Fairy Godmother kissed the newborn’s cheek. Her lips left a sparkly mark on the infant’s face, and it slowly faded away as the gift was absorbed.

“Before I go, I have one more gift to give,” the Fairy Godmother said, and took out her long crystal wand. “Will the gentleman known as Froggy please come to the front of the room?”

Froggy, who had been partially hiding behind the
Charming kings, cautiously met the Fairy Godmother in the middle of the room.

“Thank you so much for looking out for my grandchildren,” the twins’ grandmother said. “I will never be able to thank you enough, but for now, I’d like to take away the curse put upon you.”

Froggy’s mouth opened extra wide. He kept looking back and forth between the twins and the Fairy Godmother.

“I… I… I…”
he started, but couldn’t finish.

The Fairy Godmother waved her wand, and the curse cast upon him blew away like dandelion seeds in the wind. Froggy wasn’t froggy anymore, he was a
man.
He was a very attractive man, too, with dark hair and eyes that illuminated the entire room. It was shocking for the twins to see him as anything else.

“Charlie?”
King Chance said. “Is that
you
?”

The Charming brothers all leaned closer to him. They stared at him as if they were looking at a ghost.

“Hello, brother,” Froggy said. “It’s been a long time.”

The Charmings’ amazement eventually wore off and turned into celebration. They ran over to their long-lost brother and vigorously embraced him. The room erupted with joy at the long-overdue reunion. Red Riding Hood was quietly blushing to herself. She was looking at Prince Charlie in a completely new way; he wasn’t the friendly frog man who’d saved her in the collapsing castle anymore: He was husband material.