Wendy’s Blossoming and Blooming Confidence Feat

By Cami Schuh

Note: This is a mini sequel to The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer. Background: In the book, the Book Huggers are a group of four girls who are always very suspicious of the Bailey twins. At the end of the last book, they find out that the twins have been living in a fairy tale fantasy world called The Land of Stories. Wendy is one of the Book Huggers but is very shy and seldom says anything at all.

 

The Book Huggers were not going to stop now. They had just learned what really happened with the Bailey twins. They were overjoyed but then the Bailey twins brainwashed them so nobody knew about the Land of Stories. They all went home like nothing happened not remembering anything. But the Book Huggers had an advantage over the rest of the world. They had documented everything weird that had happened with Alex and Connor. They were having a meeting one day and saw countless books. All of it came back to them. They were determined to actually explore the fairy tale world.

“Okay, everyone. How are we ever going to get there? The bridge is closed!” Cindy said.

“Well, the only one who can get into the portal is Alex! How about we go visit her!” Mindy said.

They later arrived at the Bailey’s house. Charlotte answered the door. She really liked the Book Huggers so convincing her was not that hard. They did not even need to make a single threat! They begged, and she told them how to get in. They followed her instructions which was drinking a special potion, and they magically appeared inside.

They had arrived in The Land of Stories! It was beautiful! Even though they had arrived Wendy was feeling very glum. The other girls decided to ignore it because they knew she would not talk back to them. They sat just outside the Southern Kingdom underneath a large tree. They needed to discuss what they were going to do in this world. They all very easily agreed they would like to learn magic and follow that path. But nobody realized that they had not asked Wendy. Wendy sighed with sadness.

For years they learned magic. They were all pretty equal in power. But Wendy did have a weakness. Her weakness was that she had to use her wand or anything else but did not recite spells. This did put her behind the group, but she always managed to catch up. She did not talk because she chose not to speak and is too shy.

Every day they would face new challenges such as not knowing how to make someone happy. They would solve problems and spread happiness. Problems even as simple as someone’s plants dying. They became very well-known and nothing was in private anymore. Even with all these exciting and happy changes they made to the world, Wendy was still depressed. Mindy, Cindy, and Lindy had all tried to talk to her about it, but she would not respond, as usual.

One time they came across Alex and Connor. At first the Book Huggers started to stutter and make excuses about why they were there. Alex started to ask a question, but Connor interrupted with a sigh and rode off. He definitely knew there was no secret anymore even though he had brainwashed them. They both knew they could not stop the Book Huggers once they had their mind made up. The Book Huggers had creeped on Alex and Connor for years, determined to find out about their lives. It was no surprise that they had figured out another way to get to this world.

One day all the girls were together as a group sitting outside the fairy palace. Mindy, Cindy and Lindy were all chatting as usual. They were talking about what they wanted to learn in their magic studies.

“Next, I want to learn about transforming my image into different objects,” Mindy said.

“That is not cool at all! I want to learn how to read minds!” Cindy said.

“No way! This is the 21st century for goodness sakes!” Lindy said.

All the disagreements led them to go back to their separate rooms.

The next day Mindy, Cindy and Lindy apologized to each other. Wendy just sat there.

“I heard about a magic class that we could take together, how about we do that?” Lindy said.

“Sure!” Cindy said.

“Okay, I will enroll all of us!” Mindy agreed.

Wendy could not take it any longer. “I have had enough! I don’t want to do magic anymore! All of you are being selfish doing only what you want! No one ever asked me what I wanted to do!” Wendy yelled.

All three girls sat there completely astonished. They continued to sit in stunned silence as Wendy stomped off. The girls sat there for two hours unable to wrap their head around what had just happened!

Meanwhile Wendy was in her dorm planning her next steps. She thought back to a time about two years ago. She had just gone into her mother’s work office. Her workers asked how she was doing, and Wendy naturally did not say anything. When they got home, Wendy got a talking to. Her mother scolded her and told her she needed to make a change, but Wendy was not ready. At this moment Wendy decided that now she was ready. She was not going to be this way anymore. She obviously made it clear that she did not want to do this anymore, so what was she going to do next?

It took her a couple weeks to find herself. She had always followed along with the other girls. She had never thought about what she was passionate about. She did not talk to the other girls during these few weeks. Finally, she knew what she was made to do.

She approached them one day while they were eating lunch. She sat down beside them. All four of the girls were very uncomfortable. They could all feel the tension. Wendy could taste the bitterness of her breakfast from earlier. It turned sour in her stomach. “I am not going to be practicing magic anymore. I have decided what I am going to do with my life. I am going to start a club for all the little girls in the kingdoms here. I am going to help them to grow into confident women!” Wendy said.

“Oh okay. See you later then,” Lindy said.

Wendy was upset by their reaction, but it couldn’t stop her from what she was about to achieve! The first thing she had to do was go and talk to Alex. Wendy had seen her at school and knew she had made big changes in her life. She was an unappreciated smarty transformed into a self-assured figure. She also was the fairy godmother and could make anything happen if she believed in it. So, Wendy went over to the fairy palace to talk to her. She went inside and greeted her. Alex too, was astonished. She didn’t know her very well, but she did know that Wendy never talked.

“Umm. Hello? What are you doing here?” Alex said.

“Could I speak to you in private please?” Wendy said and gestured to all the fairies listening around her. Alex agreed and took her to a cozy little room on the top floor of the palace.

Wendy told her of her plans to help all the little girls. At first Alex was confused because she thought Wendy was following the course of magic. Wendy explained that it was the other Book Huggers’ ideas.

“That is a wonderful idea! Think of all the girls you will be helping! I definitely could have benefited from that as a child!” Alex exclaimed. So, the women set up a wonderful plan.

The next day Wendy traveled to the Northern Kingdom with Alex. Wendy was a little nervous but standing next to Alex really helped her confidence. They explained what Wendy wanted to start. They told them it is going to be a program for girls who are shy. Wendy is going to help them and turn them into confident people. They then go to the other kingdoms and do the same thing. Alex was really helpful. People sure do listen when the fairy godmother supports what you’re doing. In every kingdom they tell the people that the first session will be at the fairy palace on a certain day and if they want to come and check it out, they can come.

On the day of the first session, Wendy started to second guess herself. She worried no one will like her and no one will come. All this changes when she sees all the people flooding in the gates to the palace, with smiling faces.

The first session went great. To start off she talked about what her life started like. She showed what a different person she was. Lots of people showed up to every session. Mothers with their young daughters. Everyone could see the changes in the little girls there already. Even the mother’s mindset had changed.

Even after all she had done, Wendy was still upset over her broken relationship with the other Book Huggers. She needed to talk to them. She approached them one day and to talk to them. She could feel her heart beating like a drum inside of her. “I am really sorry everyone. I was upset for not being asked what I wanted to do, and I should have talked instead of yelling at you all,” Wendy said.

“We knew you would not respond, so we got used to making the decisions. We are sorry too,” Mindy explained.

“I know, I guess at the time I was expecting for you to ask me a yes or no question. But that was silly. It was my fault for building up the no talking reputation,” Wendy said. “Are we good, then?”

“Yes, we always need to support each other. Your program is remarkable, and we are proud of what you have become,” Cindy said. They all gave each other a hug.

Since that was settled, Wendy continued with her sessions. She did it for the rest of her life, encouraging all those people. It made her feel great and it also made everyone else feel great.

On her 96th birthday she looked out of the window of her bedroom. She saw the clouds dancing around the sky and the flowers smiling back at her. She was really old now and was unable to hold sessions anymore. She had married a man at the age of 22 and throughout her life had six children, all of which were girls.

Her children were now hosting the sessions, all working together. She thought about all the amazing queens that were now running the world who had once come to her sessions all those years ago.

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