Chapter One

I had a very nice time in Paris with Alex. I kind of missed it when I was back home. But now I have to unpack my trunk.  The clothes are out and ready for the washing-machine, but all my souvenirs, my camera and that sort of stuff is still in there.

I feel like the holyday will only be really over, when the trunk’s empty, but I don’t want it to be. I pluck out some postcards and key charms, sitting on the floor in front of the trunk. Something hard is lying under the shawl I bought, something blue. I pull the shawl away and realize at once, that I’d completely forgotten about that book. I took it out of the trunk, got up from the floor and sat on the bed.  I opened it and started reading.

This book is a guide for every story-lover. Within these pages you will find a way of discovering your favorite stories in a whole different light. By continuing your reading to the next page, you have to agree however, not to keep this book to yourself. It is the only one of its kind. It has to be shared with others. If you consent to this, you may read on and be initiated to the art that is Travelling through Stories.

When I turned to the next page it looked like something was glittering in the book. I checked if there was anything on that page that could have caught the light and reflected it, but I didn’t find anything so I decided to continue reading.

Thank you for signing the consent-form.

First of all we have to explain some rules:

What kind of consent-form?! I didn’t sign anything. I wondered what they were talking about. Coming to no conclusion that made sense, I decided to think about it later. I was just too curious.

This book is extra-ordinary. Saying this might seem to you like being really show-off. But this is not some author bragging about the story he wrote. This is a student writing down what he discovered and trying to emphasize the uniqueness and awesomeness of it. At the time I am writing this it is 1904. If I am lucky, a lot of time has passed since then when you are reading this, because that would mean that people are taking the instructions seriously and passing the book on to others. If you got this book in a shop it is even better. If you got it as an heirloom from you father, mother or one of your grandparents, I can only repeat: You must not keep this book to yourself. As soon as you’re done with it, you must pass it on, however you do it. But do not keep it.

This book will enable you to live any book’s story as if you were one of the characters. You cannot change the course of the story and you won’t be one of the actual characters the book describes, you’ll be like a background actor.

You can only visit a story once. As soon as you’re done with it, you can never go back into it. You will still be able to read it as often as you like, but you won’t live the story ever again. So better not make friends inside a book.

You may wonder why people would keep this to themselves if, once they’ve learnt how to do it, they wouldn’t need the book anymore. In theory you are right. But this book is enchanted. On it lays a spell that enables the owner to travel through stories. That glittering light you might have seen when you turned the first page was part of that spell. It ensures that you will pass this book on, if you don’t, you will have to pay for it. Do not worry, I am not cursing anyone. I merely hope that the people who might read this, will prefer to pass the story on, rather than suffering from minor diseases for the rest of their lives.

What? Be part of the book? If this book isn’t lying, I’d be holding the greatest treasure between my hands that I could imagine! But it had to be telling the truth! I’d seen that glittering light! It wasn’t a reflection after all! But that meant that the curse was real too. Was I putting my health in danger? I decided to call Alex later to ask him about his opinion. I would read the remaining rules first.

You don’t need to take this book with you if you want to enter a story while being somewhere else. The spell follows you as long as the book is in your possession .This works either way. The spell that enables you to dive into the story will follow you, but so will the curse that is supposed to ensure you pass the book on.

This is only possible because I used very ancient magic for this spell. If this ever crosses the lips of someone, the spell will break and the book will be no more than a work of fiction. A fairytale. I am only able to tell you about it through these pages, because I was the one to cast the spell.

The remaining pages of this book are nothing more than training-stories. Just a couple of adventures for you to try out the magic. You may or may not read them. You don’t need to worry. They are all suitable for children. They will not make you anxious, scared or give you nightmares.

I hope that you will find this book enjoyable and that you will pass it on.

Best wishes to you, from a boy who has just eleven more years to live.

Good Bye.

There goes my idea of asking Alex. Why does he only have eleven more years to live? What does that make it? What did it say, when he wrote this? 1904. He fell 1915 during the First World War. He said he was a student; he would have been old enough to go to fight. I can’t help but feel sorry for this young man, who lived a century ago.

I decided to try the spell by reading the first attached story. It was called The Ferris Wheel.

The little Carla had never been on a fun fair before. She was walking very slowly, her aunt holding her hand, beady-eyed, admiring everything she saw. There were Horse-rides and a small train, a carousel and a huge boat-shaped swing. Several people were calling out names of food and candy. An old man bent down and smiled at her, stretching out his arm to present her with a red and white striped candy-cane. “For you my love, Have a nice day!” She was so awestruck, she couldn’t even say thank you, but that didn’t matter. Her eyes were shimmering enough to show the man her gratitude. She took the candy-cane and examined it for a moment. After a couple more steps she decided to try it and put one end of it in her mouth. It wasn’t very easy since the tip was bent like an umbrella’s handle. It tasted of nothing but sugar, but she was delighted about it.

Her feet started hurting from the long walk, but she didn’t care, she ignored it, because she wouldn’t miss this for anything in the world. Her aunt however, felt her slowing down and bent to ask her “Are you alright Carla? D’you want me to carry you?” Carla nodded, anticipating the view she would have from the height of her aunt’s arms. Her aunt wasn’t very tall compared to the other people walking around there, but tall enough to let Carla see all the smaller attractions. Now she could see that there was a rabbit-cage not far from where they were. Carla pulled on her aunt’s sleeve and pointed to the cage, the candy-cane in her mouth preventing her from speaking. Her aunt stopped walking straight forward and turned slightly left, towards the rabbits. There weren’t many people around the cage, most of the children at the fair were too small to notice it. But not Carla. Carla, carried by her aunt, was tall enough to see over all these heads. She saw the heads rising above hers, then shoulders, backs and finally she found herself leaning against the cage’s fence, her aunt asking the boy inside if he could bring a rabbit for her niece to look at. He picked one that was light brown with white spots on it, it looked a bit like a very small cow, thought Carla. He stretched out his arms and said “They’re very shy, you have to really gentle.” Carla stretched out her own hand and, very slowly, started stroking the rabbit’s back. It was much softer than the teddy bear she had at home. The boy observed her the whole time, making sure that she didn’t scare the rabbit, or that the rabbit wouldn’t jump off his arms and run away. He tore his eyes away from the little girl and asked the woman beside her “It looks like she’s never seen one up close like this.” Carla’s aunt nodded and said “She hasn’t. She’s never been to a fun fair before, either. I thought it would be nice to bring her to celebrate her 5^th birthday.” The boy looked back to Carla, smiled widely and said “Well happy birthday then!” but Carla didn’t hear him, she was hypnotized by the little rabbit, trembling under her fingers. Its nose was twitching as it breathed and its big, black eyes were glittering. Faintly she heard a voice calling her, and then a hand on her shoulder and the spell was broken. She looked away from the rabbit and to her aunt who was just saying “Come on Carla. I want to show you something else.”She looked back to the rabbit and the boy and waved her hand to say goodbye. She turned back to her aunt and held her hands up high above her head to make her understand that she wanted to be carried again. Her aunt went in the opposite direction now and Carla could see a huge round thing. She didn’t know what it was, but it had very colorful lights and was turning. Carla thought it looked beautiful. She was happy to notice that this was exactly where her aunt was heading.

Her aunt gave the man sitting in the booth in front of the Ferris wheel one pound and walked past him. When she reached the cabin that was at the lowest point of the wheel, she stepped inside and sat Carla on the bench opposite her.

Carla was overwhelmed. She was still sucking on the candy-cane and looking all around her. She barely found the time to wonder where she was and why her aunt had brought them there. Suddenly the bench she was sitting on started moving very slowly and she could see the ground going further and further away. The people down there were becoming smaller. She heard her aunt saying “Carla, look up.” And she did as she was told. The view was breath-taking. Carla pressed her hands against the window to gain some hold and glared outside. Her mouth fell open and the candy-cane fell to the floor. Her aunt picked it up, sucked and spat out the dirty saliva through the open window. Carla didn’t notice all this. She was too concentrated on the view.

I gasped loudly. I felt as if I had been holding my breath during the whole story.  I noticed that I wasn’t holding the book anymore. It lay on the bed beside me. When did I let go of it? I didn’t remember. All I remembered was sitting in that cabin, next to Carla’s aunt, admiring the amazement of that small girl. 

I imagined what it would be like to see actual candles flying or someone flying on a broom without any sort of special effects. To be in the maze with Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew. I had the book to nearly every Disney movie. I could be a mermaid or a singing tea cup.

I spent the rest of the evening looking at my bookshelf, imagining and thinking which one I would try first, which ones I should probably leave.