Zally's Book Read Free

sleep a little late, I think.”

2

The Arrival
    Something woke me up, but it wasn’t an alarm clock; it was a tickling on my nose. I scratched my nose without opening my eyes and tried to go back to sleep. The light was bright, and I wondered if I had overslept. Then I remembered Abuelita had said that I could stay in bed a bit longer.
    There it was again, the ticklish feeling, as if a spiderweb were brushing against my face. The thought of a spiderweb gave me a chill, because I’m really afraid of spiders. I opened one eye, only to discover that the tickling came from a set of long whiskers.
    A black and white rabbit sat by my head.
    Curiouser and curiouser
, I thought. How had a rabbit gotten up onto my loft bed? I opened my other eye and looked around. I wasn’t in my room, or ourapartment, or our building, or—as far as I could tell—even New York City.
    I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I was at the edge of a broad grassy meadow. My woven bag from Guatemala was beside me. The grass was a bright spring green, sprinkled with wildflowers. Butterflies fluttered over my head, playing tag with each other. Could I be dreaming?
    I picked up my bag and looked inside. The cacao pod was still there. Otherwise, the bag was empty. Putting the strap over one shoulder, I got to my feet and brushed bits of grass from my clothes. I noticed I was barefoot and dressed in the same clothes as when I’d read in my room last night. Had I been too tired to put my pajamas on after drinking
chocolatl
with Abuelita? I couldn’t remember.
    A few shimmering hummingbirds flitted around the wildflowers and darted off. I turned to look behind me. There, a gurgling stream ran through the center of the meadow. Dozens of willow trees draped their branches along the stream. This place, whatever it was, seemed more natural, more real to me than any place I had ever been—and at the same time, less real.
    And suddenly there she was. From between a couple of willows, I saw a lady coming toward me. No, not a lady, a fairy—a real fairy! And not the tiny littleyou-can-hit-it-with-a-flyswatter type of fairy, but a fairy taller than me with iridescent blue wings that opened and closed like a butterfly’s. Flowers twined through her dewdrop crown. Her hair flowed to her knees, and she wore a beautiful gown of the palest lilac. The scent of lilacs hung about her as well. A cascade of tiny silver bells on her earrings made a tinkling sound when she moved her head. She stopped a few feet away from me and said, “Welcome, Zally.”
    That was when I knew it: I was dreaming. Still, I wanted to be polite. So I gave a small curtsy and said, “Thank you … Your Majesty?”
    She smiled. “You may call me Queen Patchouli. Come with me.” She waved a dainty hand toward the trees. “We should get started right away. Do you have any questions?”
    Questions? I had lots of questions! I blurted, “Why—I’m just asleep, right?”
    She tilted her head and looked at me. “You may be sleeping in your own world, but you are awake here. And this is no ordinary dream. This is Aventurine. You could spend hours or weeks here while you’re asleep in your own world. But you’ll wake up in your own bed, and only one night will have passed.”
    My mouth fell open. “Did you say Aventurine? It—it’s real?”
    She laughed, and I followed her down to the stream. We began to walk along it, the grass tickling my bare feet.
    â€œAre you the queen of all Aventurine?” I asked.
    â€œI am the queen of the Willowood tribe of fairies,” Queen Patchouli answered. “There are many more fairy queens throughout the land, each with her own queendom.”
    â€œHow many fairy godmothers are there?” I asked.
    â€œHow many people are in a family?” she asked me in return.
    â€œHow much of my family do you mean? Just my parents and brothers and me? Six. With