Page 7 - My FlipBook

TARA GILBOY

know it sounds crazy, but my mom took me out of the story so
I wouldn’t die, and you can’t tell anyone because then Queen
Cassandra could find me. But please tell me what happens in the
story. Am I a princess? Who is my father?”
Gertrude Winters placed a hand on Gracie’s shoulder. Her

eyebrows knitted together in worry and something like pity.
“You don’t look well. Maybe we should find your parents. Is there
someone you would like me to call for you?”
“No!” Gracie threw off Winters’s hand and dug the parchment
from her pocket. “I can prove it! My mom brought this from the

story. It’s magic; it’s how we got out of the story! See?” She shoved
the paper into Gertrude Winters’s hand. Surely she would sense
the parchment’s power the way Gracie had, would remember
having written about it. She’d believe Gracie now.
Gertrude Winters unfolded the parchment. She took the pen
from behind her ear. “Would you like another autograph?” she

said.
“No, I want you to tell me—”
But Gertrude Winters had already flattened the parchment
on the counter. She scrawled her name across it in thick black

strokes and held it out to Gracie. Gracie and Gertrude both
watched as the ink seeped into the paper. The parchment
shimmered like a hologram before disappearing altogether. For
one startled moment, the author’s eyes met Gracie’s. And then
Gertrude Winters faded away just as quickly, her body dissolving
like a wisp of smoke.

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