Disclaimer, I do not own The Land of Stories. This spectacular tale was written by Chris Colfer.

A/N:

Greetings everyone!

Happy Friday! Here we go. Fairy Tale World here we come!

Chapter Five: Into Another World

It was quiet in the Bailey house. All the lights were off and the streets outside were dim and silent. Connor was asleep, or at least that's what his parents thought as they began a deep discussion with the focus being a certain book Connor had received for his birthday.

"Oh come on Charlotte," John was saying,

"Connor will figure it out. It'll be a pleasant surprise to find out the magic and all the stories and characters he's grown up with are real."

"We need to tell him. This needs to come from us. What if he accidentally travels into the book and ends up in the Fairytale World? Aren't there witches, wolves and ogres? Connor could get hurt, and besides, he's probably figured out that there's something strange about the book. I can hear it humming in his room when I get up to go to the bathroom. When I asked him what it was, he told me it was a bee. Also, some of his socks, schoolbooks and pencils have gone missing. He's probably dropping them into the book trying to work it all out."

The two sat in bed side by side, their expressions thoughtful. Neither spoke for a few minutes and all that could be heard was the steady ticking of a clock on the wall.

"You've always said you wanted to give Connor the tour of the Fairytale World," Charlotte said at last touching her husband's hand.

"Maybe it's time."

"I know, and I still do. I was just hoping that-"

John trailed off, looking down at his lap.

"You could give it to both of them together," Charlotte finished.

Again silence fell. They sat there, Charlotte's hand over his, sharing a moment of understanding between them that no words could have expressed.

"Sometimes I wonder if somehow Alex is in the Fairytale World. Every second of everyday, I wonder if maybe, by some miracle, mom will find her and bring her here."

"She's never given any sign that she suspects Alex is in the Fairytale World."

"She can put up a great act my mother. She'll hide her pain and worry just so she won't burden anyone."

"Why would she be worried? She'd tell us wouldn't she? But if Alex was in the Fairytale World, who would've taken her?" Charlotte asked, picking absently at the bed covers.

Like Connor, Charlotte and John's thoughts also went round and round when it came to Alex. So many questions, but never any answers. Their thoughts teased and taunted them, making them believe in possibilities that were uncertain and always just out of reach.

"I've thought about that too, and I have a person in mind," John said carefully.

"Who?"

John looked up, meeting Charlotte's gaze intently.

"What if Lloyd took Alex?"

"But why would he? Isn't he in prison? How would he do that?"

John regretted his words as soon as he saw Charlotte begin to fret, worry etched in her face. She began wringing her hands, her lip began to quiver and her eyes filled with tears.

"Forget it Charlotte," John said putting an arm around his wife's shoulders.

"My imagination is running away with me. Pinocchio Prison is well guarded by soldiers and fairies. There's no way he'll be able to escape."

Charlotte sighed, sagging into his arms. She still felt anxious, but John's words gave her some comfort, easing the hurt in her heart ever-so-slightly.

"You're right," John said.

"Connor needs to hear this from us. It's quite a lot to process and I want him to feel safe, that he can ask us anything."

"Thank you," Charlotte said in relief.

"We'll tell him tomorrow after school. It's a Friday so hopefully he'll have the weekend to take his time and process."

Charlotte buried her head into John's chest as tears began to leak from the corners of her eyes. John held her close, rubbing her back gently. They held each other for a while, feeling each other's inhales and exhales. Charlotte could hear John's heart beat a steady soothing rhythm in his chest. Soon, the two lay down, still in each other's embrace and eventually, they fell asleep, happy with their plan, and for the first time in a long while, hopeful.

—

"Alright class," Mrs Peters said that afternoon.

"It is now time to present your essays on the fairy tale you have chosen, and tell us what the moral lesson of that tale conveys. Any volunteers?"

No one in the class moved as Mrs Peters scanned their faces like a hawk looking for its prey. After about a minute or so, she said,

"Mr Bailey, lets have you up first."

Connor just sat there, unaware not for the first time that his teacher had called his name. His mind was worlds away from school and homework. When he received his grandma's old storybook, he had not expected it to display such strange capabilities. All week, Connor's mind had been fully occupied with trying to work out how the book was humming, glowing and vibrating. He had tried dropping things inside like pencils, dirty socks and some of his schoolbooks. As soon as the object touched the pages, it sank into them, disappearing into an abyss of the unknown. Did his grandma know about this? She'd had the book for years. But surely she wouldn't give Connor a possessed or deranged book? Connor had taken the book to school, afraid that if his parents discovered it, they would take it away. He wanted to do more investigating before coming up to any conclusions.

"Mr Bailey!"

"Huh.," Connor said sitting up.

"You will be first to present your essay to the class," Mrs Peters said giving him a stern look.

Connor's heart sank. Due to all the strange events of the Land of Stories book, he had completely forgotten about the essay.

"I'm sorry Mrs Peters," he mumbled avoiding her gaze.

"I forgot to do mine."

A hush that seemed to last an eternity fell over the room.

"Well then, you'll have to improvise. Up you come Mr Bailey," Mrs Peters said calmly.

Slowly, Connor got to his feet and walked to the front of the room. His feet felt heavy as if they were encased in concrete.

"I'm going to talk about Sleeping Beauty," he began his mouth dry.

"Um ... um ... well .. um ..." Connor stuttered, his cheeks growing redder by the second.

He stood there, wracking his brains desperately for something that would satisfy his teacher.

"I think the moral lesson of this story is to never annoy your neighbours and to be careful who you ignore. I know my interpretation isn't a traditional one, but let me explain."

The entire class was puzzled, but they were definitely listening. Connor had always had a knack for amusing and entertaining his classmates.

"You see," he continued,

"if Sleeping Beauty's parents had just invited that enchantress to the christening, all that stuff would never have happened. The enchantress would never have gotten angry. She would have never cursed the baby therefore Sleeping Beauty would not have been cursed to die on her sixteenth birthday. This means that the whole kingdom would never have had to sleep for a hundred years. So if they just invited the enchantress, all would've been fine," Connor finished sure he had struck gold.

For a while, the class stayed quiet, thinking about what he'd said.

"While there's no such thing as a wrong interpretation," a girl with braces said,

"I think that's definitely a misread."

"Why's that?" Mrs Peters asked.

"I think the moral of Sleeping Beauty is preventing the unpreventable," the girl said glaring at Connor with disapproval.

"Sleeping Beauty's parents wanted to protect her. She was so sheltered that she had no idea of the danger she was in. They destroyed all the spindles in the kingdom and yet, Sleeping Beauty still pricked her finger on the first spindle she saw. Even if the enchantress had been invited, she was so evil she would still have cursed the baby."

The whole class was sitting up now, there eyes flicking from Connor to the girl.

"Anything to say Mr Bailey?"

"Oh come on, I've seen your faces when you don't get invited to parties and most of you look like you could curse a baby."

At this, the girl who had spoken and several others grunted with annoyance.

"okay Mr Smarty-pants," a tall black girl asked.

"What do you think, in that twisted cavern you call a brain, is the lesson of Goldilocks and the Three Bears is?"

"Easy, always remember to lock your doors. Burglars come in all shapes and sizes even curly haired little girls."

Connor smiled, seeing some of his classmates smiling with amusement.

"What about Little Red Riding Hood?" Mark asked.

"I feel kind of sorry for her. I mean, what kind of parents send their daughter into a forest full of wolves with a bright red jacket and a basket full of baked goods. They must've wanted to get rid of her."

At that, a few chuckles went around the room.

"And I suppose you think that Red Riding Hood should have mailed the basket to her grandmother?" Mrs Peters asked, unable to contain a smile.

"Exactly," Connor said beaming.

"Thank you for that thought provoking presentation Mr Bailey. You may sit down now."

Just as Connor was returning to his seat, a low humming noise sounded through the room. Connor's stomach plummeted. What was he going to do now? As quickly and calmly as he could, Connor walked to his seat and felt inside his bag. Sure enough, The Land of Stories was humming and vibrating away.

"What is that noise?" Mrs Peters asked, walking around the room.

Following the sound, Mrs Peters came closer and closer to his desk.

"Mr Bailey, is there something in your bag?"

"No Mrs Peters, definitely not."

"Let me see," she said holding out a hand.

Just as Connor was about to hand the bag over, the bell rang for the end of the day. As soon as he heard it, Connor bolted from the room, Mrs Peters' shouts following him.

He sprinted through the halls pushing his way through the crowd. Once he reached the street, Connor ran even faster, determined to solve this once and for all. He sprinted past houses, shops and a park he used to go to with his dad. When Connor finally arrived at his house, he was sweaty and out-of-breath.

"Connor," his mom said looking up.

"Hey mom, hey Evly," he panted rushing past them through the door.

His mom was teaching Evly how to use a washing machine and by the basket of clothes in odd shades by the steps, Evly was finding it quite a challenge.

Taking the stairs two at a time, Connor rushed into his room and closed the door behind him. Still breathing hard, he took out the book, and laid it open on the floor. The book was humming and vibrating more than ever, and a bright glow radiated from the pages illuminating his bedroom. Suddenly, Connor sat still listening intently. He could've sworn he was hearing the twittering of birds coming from the book. He leant closer, his nose barely an inch from the glowing pages. Suddenly, Connor pulled away, as a yellow bird flew from the page. It flew around his room, soaring and dipping. In a panic, Connor hurried to open a window and the bird eagerly flew away into the afternoon.

By now, the glowing had grown brighter. The pages were invisible, and the book no longer looked like it was made of paper, but as if it was made from pure light.

"Okay," Connor thought.

"If pencils and books can get through the pages, maybe I can too?"

Slowly, he stretched out his hand touching the book with the tips of his fingers. To his astonishment, they sank easily through the pages as if he was touching sand. Gradually, Connor pressed his hand into the book until he was wrist deep. To his relief, it didn't hurt at all. Soon, Connor was elbow deep. Then he was up to his armpits.

Just as Connor was about to retreat, his mom opened the door and said,

"Connor, I made cookies."

Startled, Connor lost his balance, his whole body falling through the pages. His room grew smaller and smaller as Connor plummeted into utter darkness.

—

Charlotte stood at her son's bedroom door in complete shock as she watched him slip through the glowing pages.

"John!" she yelled.

"John!"

Hurried footsteps came up the stairs as John appeared, Evly and Mira close behind. As soon as they saw the glowing book, they all knew what had happened.

"We need to follow him," Charlotte said urgently.

"Okay," John said trying to stay calm.

"You call the school and I'll call my mother. She's still in this world. She can help us look."

"We'll help too," Mira chimed in.

John opened his mouth to protest, but Evly cut in,

"The more people looking, the quicker we'll find him, and besides, its the least we can do after everything you too and the Fairy Godmother have done for us. We wouldn't be in this world if it wasn't for her."

No one argued with this logical solution, and John and Charlotte rushed off to perform their tasks.

After the school was called, and Connor's grandmother informed, all four adults trooped back to Connor's room.

"Alright then," John said looking around,

"here we go."

John stepped into the glowing pages as easily as if it was a staircase, and soon he was out of sight. Charlotte followed, then Mira, and at last, Evly. They were all about to embark on an adventure they would never forget.