The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell Read Online Free PDF Page A

the storage room in the back, and listen to what had happened.
    “What’s the matter, sweetheart?” he would ask with big, concerned eyes.
    “I had a really bad day today, Daddy,” Alex said on one occasion.
    “Are the other kids still teasing you?” he asked. “I can call the school and ask your teacher to have a talk with them.”
    “That wouldn’t solve anything,” Alex said through sniffles. “By publicly persecuting me, they’re filling an insecure void caused by social and domestic neglect.”
    Mr. Bailey scratched his head. “So, what you’re saying, sweetheart, is that they’re just
jealous
?” he asked her.
    “Exactly,” Alex said. “I read a psychology book in the library today at lunch that explained it.”
    Mr. Bailey let out a proud laugh. His daughter’s intelligence constantly amazed him. “I think you’re just too bright for your own good, Alex,” he said.
    “Sometimes I wish I was like everyone else,” Alex confessed. “I’m tired of being lonely, Daddy. If being smart and being a good student means that I’ll never have friends, then I wish I was more like
Conner
.”
    “Alex, have I ever told you the story about the Curvy Tree?” Mr. Bailey asked.
    “No,” Alex answered.
    Mr. Bailey’s eyes lit up. They always did when he was about to tell a story.
    “Well,” he started, “one day when I was very young, I was walking around the woods and saw something verypeculiar. It was an evergreen tree, but it was different from any other evergreen tree I had ever seen. Instead of growing straight out of the ground, its trunk curved and wound in circles like a large vine.”
    “How?” Alex asked, utterly entranced. “That isn’t possible. Evergreens don’t grow like that.”
    “Perhaps someone forgot to tell that to the tree,” Mr. Bailey said. “Anyway, one day the loggers came and cut down every single tree in the area except for the Curvy Tree.”
    “Why?” Alex asked.
    “Because they figured it was unusable,” Mr. Bailey answered. “You could never make a table or a chair or a cabinet out of it. You see, the Curvy Tree may have felt different from the other trees, but its uniqueness is what saved it.”
    “What ever happened to the Curvy Tree?” Alex asked.
    “It’s still there today,” Mr. Bailey said with a smile. “It’s growing taller and taller and curvier and curvier every day.”
    A tiny smile grew on Alex’s face. “I think I get what you’re trying to tell me, Daddy,” she said.
    “I’m glad,” said Mr. Bailey. “Now all you have to do is wait for the loggers to come and chop down all your peers.”
    Alex laughed for the first time all day. Mr. Bailey always knew how to cheer her up.

    It took the twins twice as long to walk home since they’d moved into the rental house. It was a boring home withbrown walls and a flat roof. Windows were few, and the front yard consisted only of a plain grass lawn that was barely alive because the sprinklers didn’t work.
    The Baileys’ home was cozy but cluttered. They had more furniture than they had room for, and none of it matched the house because it was never intended to. Even though they had lived here for more than half a year, unpacked boxes were still lined up against the walls.
    None of them wanted to unpack them; none of them wanted to admit they were staying as long as they actually were.
    The twins immediately went up the stairs and into their separate bedrooms. Alex sat at her desk and started her homework. Conner laid on his bed and started a nap.
    Alex’s bedroom could have been mistaken for a library if it weren’t for the bright yellow bed tucked away in the corner. Bookshelves of all heights and widths lined the room, holding everything from chapter books to encyclopedias.
    Conner’s bedroom was more like a cave, in which he appropriately hibernated whenever he could. It was dark and messy; patches of carpet could be seen in between piles of dirty clothes. A half-eaten grilled cheese