Free My Very UnFairy Tale Life: Jenny’s First Adventure by Anna Staniszewski Page A

million other things. It’s pretty much
the best job ever.”
    “A job? I’m nine! I’m not even allowed to
babysit.”
    “You are kind of young to be an adventurer,
but the Committee sees a lot of potential in you.” Anthony wrinkled
his nose. “Though I’m not sure why. Anyway, this first mission
would be a trial run. If you do well, you could become a
full-fledged adventurer. So, are you up for it? A life of magic and
adventure and blah blah blah?”
    I glanced at my bookcase which was stuffed
full of stories about regular kids who were thrown into magical
situations. I’d always loved disappearing into those tales. In
comparison, real life seemed so boring.
    “Well?” said Anthony, crunching on his
lollipop.
    That’s when I realized: this was it. If I
wasn’t taco-hallucinating, then this was my chance to become one of
those kids in those amazing stories. My life would never be boring
again.
    “Yes!” I said with a laugh. “Trish and
Melissa will never believe me when I tell them about this!”
    Anthony shook his head. “Sorry, Jenny-girl.
No telling anyone about your adventures. You have to keep the
magical worlds a secret. Otherwise, you’ll get in serious
trouble.”
    My excitement dimmed. “What about the other
kids in my gym class? They saw you just like I did. Doesn’t that
mean they already know about magic?”
    “Not anymore,” said the gnome. “Right before
we left, I wiped their memories so they’d forget all about me.”
    I hugged a pillow to my chest. “But what’s
the fun of going on fantastic adventures if I can’t share them with
anybody?”
    “Don’t you worry,” said Anthony. “You’ll make
tons of magical friends, and you’ll be able to tell them all about
your missions. It’ll be a blast. I promise.”
    He was right. How could I turn down a chance
like this when it meant having a whole new, amazing life? And who
knew, maybe one day I’d find a way to tell my friends about it
all.
    “Okay,” I said. “I’ll do it.”
    “Fabulous!” said the gnome. Then he grabbed
my hand and snapped his fingers. Before I could even brace
myself— pop !—we were off again.
    This time, after an eternity of spinning
through suffocating rainbows, I collapsed on a pile of dirt. The
smell of burnt wood filled my nose as Anthony pulled me up to my
feet. I was just going to ask what had happened to the purple duck
when I spotted something swooping high above our heads.
    I really had to be seeing things because the
swooping figure looked like a dragon. And worse, the dragon
appeared to have a bathtub in its mouth.
    I blinked and blinked as the creature
disappeared among the gray clouds. Wings. Spikes. Claws. Unless I
had a dragon-shaped piece of dirt in my eye, what I’d just seen was
for real.
    “Where are we?” I whispered.
    “The locals call it Pssshaazz,” said Anthony,
making a sound that reminded me of sizzling oil. “But I just call
it Dragonville. Either way, the residents need your help.”
    As I glanced around, I realized why it
smelled like something was burning: something had been
burning. We were in the middle of what used to be a forest, but was
now mounds of ash and singed wood. It looked nothing like a magical
land.
    “What happened to this place?” I said as I
followed Anthony down a barren path through the woods.
    “A few things you should know about dragons,
Jenny-girl. They like to burn things. And they like to steal
things. And they’re not very bright.”
    “And we’re here to help them? It
sounds like we should be finding a way to lock them up.”
    “Technically,” said Anthony, jumping over a
fallen tree branch, “we’re here to stop them from burning the
entire land. They’ve been at war with the sprites ever since the
sprite queen said the dragon king had a thick neck. Things pretty
much went downhill from there.”
    “What about the sprites?” I said. “Anything I
should know about them?”
    “They’re feisty things, that’s for sure.