My Epic Fairy Tale Fail Read Free Page B

going?”
    Trish let out a sputtering laugh. “Are you kidding? Who cares about a dance when this is going to be so much better?”
    â€œPuh-lease?” said Melissa, looking like she might get on her knees and beg.
    What could I say? Bringing them on my adventure was probably a terrible idea, but my friends obviously weren’t going to take no for an answer. Maybe having them along wouldn’t be so bad. Then they’d finally understand that my job wasn’t as easy as they were always making it out to be. Besides, having Melissa and Trish with me could make things a lot more fun.
    â€œOkay, fine,” I said.
    Melissa shrieked and jumped up and down while Trish held up her arms in a touchdown pose.
    â€œBut you have to listen to me, okay?” I went on. “If I tell you to run, you run. If I tell you to hide, you hide. If I tell you to pole-vault, you—”
    â€œI think they get the picture, Jenny-girl.” Anthony rolled his eyes. “Let’s get going already!”
    I sighed and nodded, hoping I wasn’t making a huge mistake. Then I held on to Trish and Melissa, who were both bouncing around like bobblehead dolls, and— Pop !—we were off.

Chapter Four
    When I opened my eyes again, we were in the middle of the most amazing meadow I’d ever seen. It felt like we’d been dropped right in the middle of Candyland. Lush grass surrounded us like a green carpet, basketball-sized flowers swayed in the breeze, and dozens of sparkling butterflies flitted through the air. Maybe I’d been wrong when I told Melissa and Trish that my adventures were nothing like Disney movies.
    I heard my friends groaning beside me. They were both sprawled on the ground, looking almost as green as the grass.
    â€œWelcome to the joys of inter-world travel,” I said, helping them to their feet.
    â€œUgh, that felt like getting sucked through a straw or something,” said Melissa, pulling off her hockey mask and rubbing her temples.
    â€œIs it normal to feel like you don’t have knees?” said Trish, adjusting her backpack.
    â€œIt’ll wear off in a second.” I motioned for them to look around. “I hope it was worth it.”
    My friends gasped in unison as they finally noticed our surroundings. Then Trish started spinning in happy circles like a character in a cheesy movie.
    â€œIt’s goooorgeous!” Melissa belted out in her amazing singing voice.
    â€œWelcome to the Land of Tales,” said Anthony, sounding like a nasally tour guide. “On your left is a field. On your right is a rock. Through there”—he pointed toward a forest—“is the village and, beyond it, the palace where Princess Nartha is waiting for us.”
    â€œWhy did you pop us in all the way out here, then?” I asked.
    â€œIt’ll give me some time to fill you in,” said Anthony, setting off toward the woods. “Plus, Dr. Bradley insists that the more I walk, the more calories I’ll burn.” He shook his head like that was the most ridiculous idea he’d ever heard. “The main thing you need to know about the Land of Tales is that it’s the origin of all fairy tales.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” I hurried to catch up while Trish and Melissa trailed behind us, their eyes huge and their mouths hanging open.
    â€œYou know all those princess-needs-to-be-rescued stories?” said Anthony. “They all originated here. Every time a story has a babbling brook in it, this is where it came from.”
    â€œThat makes sense,” Trish chimed in. “No one knows the origin of fairy tales, but there are similar stories all over our world. It figures they’d all come from one place.” She really did sound like an encyclopedia with legs.
    â€œSo why did Princess Nartha ask us for help?” I said as we came to an overgrown trail that cut through the woods.
    â€œIn a